Clan Politics and Regime Transition in Central Asia, Kathleen
Collins, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006, pp. 376.The long isolation of Central Asia finally ended with the collapse of
the Soviet Union. Five new independent states emerged from the ashes of
the Soviet Union, the very first time in history that the peoples of
Central Asia gained their own independent states modelled on the modern
state. This development caught the world, including Central Asians
themselves, by surprise. It changed the geopolitics of the entire Eurasia.
In the ensuing years, the Central Asian republics have undergone
simultaneous multiple transformations: state building; political regime
transformation; and transition from Soviet communism. Thus the new states
in Central Asia have provided scholars with new cases of multiple economic
and political transitions to study and compare. In recent years, there has
been a significant proliferation of English-language publications on
Central Asia. Kathleen Collin's book, a comparative historical study
of political development in Central Asia, is a major contribution. While
its focus is on Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, it often provides
examples from the other two Central Asian republics, namely Turkmenistan
and Kazakhstan. It is thoroughly researched and rich in information and
details. It also makes a significant contribution to the political science
literature on democratization, regime transition and consolidation.
A Great Game in Greater Central Asia
