Central Asia's New States: A Global View of Ethnopolitical Conflicts

In 1990, the idea of five new independent states in Central Asia had not occurred to many people. A few Central Asian leaders hoped to wrest some economic concessions from Moscow. They had no experience of being national leaders, nor did they have a corps of administrators, diplomats, generals, and economists who could run a national state. At the end of the next year, 1991, all five Soviet republics had become members of the world community, members of the United Nations, home to embassies, and players on the political stage. Were they ready ? To paraphrase a Russian proverb, "had crayfish whistled on the mountains ?" The answer was a big no. Yet, mapmakers painted in new colors, the new flags got hoisted up alongside the East River, and soon new currencies circulated in the bazaars and shops of Central Asia. If you want to know how things went in each of these new nations---especially Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan---if you want information about foreign policy formation, about relations with Russia, Turkey, Iran, the US and China and among themselves, if you need background for the years 1991-1995, or on the Tajikistan civil war, you have come to the right place. Olcott writes clear, concise, jargon-free prose and covers all the ground. She concludes that in the short term, trends would favor the current Sovietized, secular elite, but in the long term they would become superfluous. She notes that the same process that took place elsewhere in the colonial world would occur in Central Asia. In future, the regional languages would assert themselves against Russian, Islam would come to the forefront, and that national concerns would become paramount over Russian ones. Some 13 years have passed since her research finished, Niyazov of Turkmenistan has died, Russian troops are still stationed in Tajikistan, but the issues she raised then are still the main ones. Though she predicted an earlier exit for such rulers as Uzbekistan's Karimov and Kazakhstan's Nazarbaev, I think you will find her vision right on the money. A worthwhile, intelligent summary of Central Asia's international and local politics of the period.

As a quick guide on how these nations have become independent since the break-up of the Soviet Union, Olcott's book can't be beat. One really gets a feel for the threshold on which these nations stand, whether they become great in their own right or if they sink into poverty and crawl back to Mother Russia for help. Basically focusing on Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrghizstan, with metion of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan Olcott's book paints a picture of struggle, hope and a future in question. I thought it was great.