The Role of Online Geographic Information in the Western Ferghana Valley Border Conflict
Résumé
The objective of this article will be to analyze, through the lens of online geographic information, the border conflict between the ex-Soviet republics of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the western part of the Ferghana Valley, a rivalry that has existed for decades and which had moments of resurgence in 2021 and 2022. The lack of agreement on certain sectors of the border between the two countries, which became international with the fall of the USSR in 1991, is at the root of this border conflict. The appropriation of certain resources and the use of land planning and management devices (roads, water dams, etc.) on both sides of the border are the casus belli that have led to numerous armed clashes, particularly between 2021 and 2022. The democratization of geographic information and access to numerous online platforms, both proprietary and in open collaboration, allow us to analyze the conflict from another perspective. The border and territories are represented differently depending on the platforms, thus showing a very relative truth of geographical information instrumentalized by the powers and users of the different factions. The de facto use of territories is related to the ideal of identity and the legal vacuum created by the absence of border agreements.