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Tajikistan in the New Central Asia: Geopolitics, Great Power Rivalry and Radical Islam |
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reviewed by Salih Dogan |
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Author: Lena Jonson |
ISBN:
978-1-84511-293-6 |
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Publisher:
I. B. Tauris |
Page:
256 |
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Type:
Hardcover |
Price:
$95 |
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Review: |
Tajikistan has been one of the most important tension points in Central Asia since the states gained their independence. The regional impact and direction of the balance of power that occurred after the civil war in Tajikistan is one of the discussion topics in the region. “Tajikistan in the New Central Asia: Geopolitics, Great Power Rivalry and Radical Islam” by Lena Jonson is of great importance in this regard. The author's visits to Tajikistan in 1997 (before the end of the civil war), 2002, 2004, and 2005 and the interviews that she made with the social and political actors make the book more important.
Lena Jonson is an 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 a Political Officer at the OSCE mission to Tajikistan. Since autumn 2005 she has worked as a Cultural Counselor for the Swedish Embassy in Moscow. Jonson has many articles and books related to Central Asia and countries in the region.
The author doesn’t stick to a narrow framework and asks for the opinions of different people in different languages in the bibliography of the book. In her research, she references both Western, Russian, and Central Asian scholars and Tajik, Russian, and Western newspapers and news agencies. Besides, most of the interesting parts of the book comprise pieces from her interviews with politicians, scholars, and journalists during her four visits to Tajikistan.
Jonson focuses on Tajikistan’s foreign policy after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and attempts to answer three questions: What has changed in Tajikistan’s foreign policy after the 9/11 terrorist attacks? Why has Tajikistan felt the need to make these political changes? And what are the possible consequences of these policy changes?
In order to predict the answers to these three questions that form the main theme of the book, it is necessary to understand Tajikistan’s 10-year period of independence from 1991-2001. The book concentrates on recent Tajik foreign policy; therefore, it doesn’t really cover the first 10 years after independence and it doesn’t mention the civil war or Russian and Soviet domination of the country, as it is needed. Unlike the other regional states, Tajikistan experienced a civil war during this 10-year period and has become Russia’s backyard.
While looking for the answers to these three questions, we should examine the U.S.’ policies towards the region right after the September 11 terrorist attacks. The U.S. had a growing interest in Tajikistan due to neighboring Afghanistan. In this context, Tajikistan has a critical role because of its geographical features in terms of security problems in the Central Asia. Tajikistan is the door from Afghanistan to Central Asia for all kinds of radical movements, weapons, and drug trafficking. Tajikistan has 65% of the water resources in the region and this issue also shapes the regional and global actors’ conflict of interest on Tajikistan.
The U.S.’ increasing interest in the region right after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001 broke Russia’s effectiveness in Tajikistan. Tajikistan’s improving relations with the Western states through the U.S.-led anti-terrorism coalition largely affected its foreign policy. While Tajikistan has been trying to maintain its strategic relations with Russia at a high level, it has also tried to develop its relations with other global actors. The author highlights the weakness of Tajikistan while explaining the issue and states that the countries like Tajikistan follow two different paths in order to compensate for their weaknesses. The first one is to isolate itself from the conflicts among the super powers and the second one is to take the side of the strongest one to guarantee its security. Jonson makes an observation that Tajikistan adopts the first choice.
The author, while examining the Russian factor in Tajikistan foreign policy, evaluates the relations in three separate periods. In the first period, ending in 2001, Russia played an active role in Tajikistan. Then, Russia’s influence decreased in the second period, from 2002 to mid-2004. Jonson indicates that the third period began in October 2004 with the cooperation package signed between Russia and Tajikistan; therefore, Russia is seeking to increase its influence again. While the author is looking for the answers to questions related to Tajikistan’s future foreign policy, we see that the context is not only limited to Russia and the U.S. The regional powers, like China, Iran, India, and Pakistan, are included in the discussions.
As the author mentioned in her book, Central Asia has become the scene of a great power struggle after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since the administrations, which are a legacy of the Soviets and have an authoritarian view, didn’t allow a pluralist political structure, the radical movements have fostered a “threat debate” that focuses on filling the gap in government. Afterwards, the authoritarian identity politics is discussed with the state leaders’ consolidation of power. While the struggle to control the existing natural resources continues in Central Asia, where Russia has a significant impact, the Western countries and especially the United States will not leave Russia alone in the region. At this juncture, the author highlights that Tajikistan is the country that has always been mentioned in these discussions. Tajikistan has a strategic position in terms of geopolitics because of neighboring Afghanistan, which is currently the focus of the U.S.’ fight against terrorism. Tajikistan is one of the major drug trafficking routes in the region and could be considered, alongside Afghanistan, as one of the most problematic countries. Tajikistan is the only one among the Post-Soviet countries that experienced a “civil war”, and it is also the poorest country of the region. As this book studies Tajikistan’s foreign policy, concentrating on the period following the September 11 attacks, it fills a very important gap in the literature. When the bloody history of the country is taken into consideration, how the ongoing domestic political struggle will play out and what is waiting for the country remains in question. The author reviews these points in detail, although she leaves the question of how the developments and reform movements will change Tajik society unanswered.
The author points out that Tajikistan has no opportunity to draw its own fate and also indicates that it is very difficult for a country to have such expectations on this issue. She states that Tajikistan’s future is very closely related to Central Asia’s future and while considering the future of Central Asia it is impossible to manage a policy independent of Tajikistan.
There are a limited number of articles and books written on Tajikistan’s foreign policy, especially after 2001, so Lena Jonson has a great contribution to the literature. From this perspective, the book will form completeness with the books and articles mention the history of Tajikistan since its independence till the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Prospective readers should be aware that the book is written in academic prose. This book should be on the reading lists of those working on Central Asia, especially graduate and doctoral students, civil society organizations’ researchers, and bureaucrats. Also, the translation of the book into Turkish would make an important contribution to the academic world in Turkey.
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about book: |
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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 Tajkistan'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 turn 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 strategically vital region at a moment of transition. |
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