Acknowledgements

Many people as well as several organizations have contributed to this study in a variety of ways. I am happy to have the opportunity to record my sincere appreciation to all of them. My deepest gratitude is to my Supervisor, Professor Leszek Buszynski, who inspired me with confidence in correctness of the chosen subject and supported me a lot at every stage of the research and writing. This study benefited tremendously from his truly exceptional guidance and amazing professional knowledge.

My thanks also go to my Advisor, Professor Daojiong Zha, whose comments and suggestions on the theoretical part of the thesis were found to be exceptionally useful. Besides, I am very grateful to the Chairman of the Examining Committee, Professor John Welfield, for his genuine interest in the subject and valuable remarks about my research. To both of them I submit my sincere gratitude.

I also express my appreciation to Assistant Professor, Gary Ockey, the most talented instructor of English language I have ever seen in my life. Over these years, he was my patient teacher, helpful advisor, and senior friend.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Asian Development Bank, which funded my two years of research in Japan. I also wish to thank the State Committee of the Kyrgyz Parliament, especially, Turdakun Usubaliev, and an independent researcher, Valentina Kasymova, who kindly provided me with exhaustive and reliable information on the water problem in the Syr Darya River basin.

My special gratefulness is to my friends and classmates from Brazil, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Russian Federation and others, who have warmed my world with their friendship and support in difficult moments of my life here.

Finally, and probably most importantly, I am eternally indebted to all members of my family. In particular, I bend before my esteemed parents, Djeldenbai and Svetlana, who so recklessly believe in me and always support my any undertakings, even the wildest ones. Furthermore, I could hardly carry on during these years without daily warm words of encouragement and the inimitable love of my husband, Nurbek. I am also encouraged by the steadfastness of my sweet daughter, Altynai. I do hope that eventually she will understand and forgive me for these long years of my absence.