Tajikistan in the New Central Asia: Geopolitics, Great Power Rivalry and Radical Islam

by Lena Jonson

Overview

Central Asia has become the battleground for the major struggles of the 21st century: radical Islam versus secularism, authoritarianism versus identity politics, Eastern versus Western control of resources, and the American 'War on Terror'. Nowhere are these conflicts more starkly illustrated than in the case of Tajikistan. Embedded in the oil-rich Central Asian region, and bordering war-torn Afghanistan, Tajikistan occupies a geo-strategically pivotal position. It is also a major transit hub for the smuggling of opium, which eventually ends up in the hands of heroin dealers in Western cities. In this timely book, Lena Jonson examines Tajikistan's search for a foreign policy in the post 9/11 environment. She shows the internal contradictions of a country in every sense at the crossroads, reconciling its bloody past with an uncertain future. She assesses the impact of regional developments on the reform movement in Tajikistan, and in turban examines how changes in Tajik society (which is the only Central Asian country to have a legal Islamist party) might affect the region.
The destiny of Tajikistan is intimately connected with that of Central Asia, and this thorough and penetrating book is essential reading for anyone seeking to make sense of this complex and important region.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781845112936
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/25/2006
Series:	International Library of Central Asian Studies , #2
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Lena Jonson is Associate Professor in Political Science and a Senior Research Fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. She has worked at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, London and as Political Officer at the OSCE mission to Tajikistan. Since autumn 2005 she has worked as a Cultural Counsellor for the Swedish Embassy in Moscow.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
• Acronyms and Abbreviations
• Part I. The Background
• Introduction
• Towards an Independent Foreign Policy?
• The Foreign Policy of a Small Power
• Foreign Policy Change
• The Determinants of Foreign Policy
• The Regional System Approach
• The Domestic Consolidation Approach
• The Societal Approach
• Possible Implications of Foreign Policy Change
• The Structure of This Book
• Sources
• Back to the Future?
• Ancient Bactria and Sogdiana, and the Persian Conquest
• Alexander, the Graeco-Bactrian state, and the Fall of Bactria-Sogdiana
• The Arab Conquest
• The Samanids
• The Turks, Genghis Khan, and the Timurids
• The Emirate and the Russian Conquest
• Conclusions
• The First Ten Years of Independence
• The Disaster of the Civil War
• Light at the End of the Tunnel
• Foreign Policy: Bandwagoning with Russia
• Conclusions
• Part II. Tajikistan's Foreign Policy since 2001
• Big-Power Engagement and Tajik Policy
• Introduction
• The Turn of Events in 20012002-mid 2004: the Backdrop of Russian Influence
• The Security Sphere
• The Economic Sphere2004-2005: A Russian 'Return'?
• The Russian Factor
• The Western Factor
• Tajik Policy and the Engagement of Regional Powers
• Conclusions
• Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Tajik Policy
• Afghanistan: A Turn for the Better?Tajikistan and Afghanistan Before 2001
• The Situation Reversed after 11 September 2001
• A New Pattern of Relations in the Making?
• Uzbekistan: A Turn for the Worse?
• Tajikistan and Uzbekistan Before 2001
• Dependence on Uzbek Infrastructure
• Developments after September 2001
• Conclusions
• Part III. The Determinants of Tajikistan's Foreign Policy
• Efforts to Strengthen the Regime
• Stabilization and Expectations of Reform: 2001-2002
• Tightening the Rope: 2003-2005
• 2005: Into the Shadow of the Kyrgyz Revolution
• Conclusions
• The Dynamics on the Domestic Scene
• The Secular-Political Dimension
• Emerging Cooperation between the Opposition Parties?
• The Religious-Political Dimension
• The Heritage
• The Ethnic-National Dimension
• Conclusions
• Part IV. Conclusions
• Conclusions
• The Change of Tajik Foreign Policy
• Why This Change?
• The Foreign Policy of Small Powers
• Implications for Tajikistan's Future Policy
• Bibliography and Further Reading
• Index .