scholarly journals Islamic Consolidation in Kazakhstan: Success Story and Challenges of the Future

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ario Bimo Utomo
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Stable Condition ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
The Political ◽  
Success Story ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Future ◽  
Muslim Majority

This article attempts to explain the process of Islamic consolidation in Kazakhstan, a young Muslim-majority state in Central Asia which became independent following the demise of the Soviet Union. Unlike its turbulent regional neighbors, Kazakhstan has virtually been not troubled by the threat of extremists, making its success an interesting case to discuss. There are some aspects which this essay is going to analyze. First, using the consolidation framework, I am going to examine how the rise of Islam is facilitated after the demise of the Soviet Union. Second, I also add another element namely securitization. This paper argues that securitisation is the additional strategy which creates a stable condition of Islamic consolidation in Kazakhstan. This paper concludes with giving some reflections on the future of Islam and the political stability in Kazakhstan. 

CENTRAL ASIA: THE BUMPY ROAD TOWARDS POLITICAL MATURITY

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oleg KARPOVICH
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Central Asian Countries

Following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the new Central Asian independent states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan replaced the Soviet republics of Central (Sredniaia) Asia and Kazakhstan. By the time they gained independence, these countries had already developed specific mechanisms of governance: The Communist Party and state structures had relied, to a great extent, on certain regional clan principles of decision-making inherited from their distant past. The new states immediately declared that they would strive to build Western-style political systems. They elected their presidents and parliaments, set up judicial systems, yet the political elites proved unable to realize the democratic standards of the West they supported in words. Over the course of three decades, heads of state, who dominated and still remain the dominant figures in their countries and are responsible for domestic and foreign policies have replaced each other without any real competition. None of the regional states can boast of competitive presidential elections. On the other hand, even though their political development may have external similarities, there are still numerous differences rooted in their very different past, cultures and mentalities. The regional clan division, swept under the carpet during the Soviet period, was revived as an important and highly influential feature. Kazakhstan was divided into zhuzes; Kyrgyzstan is in the midst of an ongoing regional confrontation between the South and the North; in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan regional clans have gradually gained a lot of political weight. This means that the leaders of all Central Asian countries had no choice but to take into account the interests of groups and clans and the ties between different tribes, which inevitably affected the principles of governance and choice of officials. The personal characteristics of leaders who came to power after the Soviet Union had left the stage and their interpretations of the ongoing processes played a huge role in regional developments, the relationships between the regional states, the regional balance of power and the political situation. Today, all the above-mentioned countries with the exception of Tajikistan, have elected new presidents either amid domestic political turmoil or through a power transit within the same group. This means that in all Central Asian countries presidential elections are not seen as an instrument of change of power but, rather, as an instrument of remaining in power. The complicated economic situation, the non-regional actors that put pressure on the local political elites and, recently, the COVID-19 pandemic, which intensified the social and economic problems, did nothing positive for the political and economic stability in Central Asia.

scholarly journals About lost futures or the political heart of history

HISTOREIN ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
María Inés Mudrovcic
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
Political Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Future ◽  
Secular State

This article attempts to show that in western societies of today, in the absence of absolute foundations and the lack of a frame of meaning that opens new horizons of expectations, a political self understanding of the present in terms of past, begins to emerge. This is possible because the major “catastrophes” of the 20th century have not established a rupture between past and present on the political plane. What I am trying to show here is that the kind of break between past and present made possible by events such as the French Revolution and the Fall of the Soviet Union, took place because these events provoked political ruptures. Because the catastrophes of the 20th century did not break the political order which gave them birth (the modern secular state), they have created an order of time which, without leaving the future aside, feeds itself from the past.

scholarly journals Islam and Dispute Resolution in Central Asia: The Case of Women Muslim Leaders

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Merrell
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Women Leaders ◽  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Muslim Majority ◽  
Resolution Processes ◽  
Islamic Courts

This quick study highlights the need for future research among Muslim leaders, especially women leaders (otinoyi singular; otinoyilar plural), on the neglected topic of how Islam influences dispute resolution in Central Asia. The post-Soviet countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) have Muslim-majority populations and secular governments. As such, Islamic jurisprudence is not a source of state law and official Islamic courts do not exist there as in many other Muslim-majority countries. Islamic courts and jurisprudence did prevail in Central Asia but they were abolished by the Soviet Union and replaced with secular Soviet laws and courts. Therefore, it is easy to assume that Islamic legal authorities no longer influence the resolution of interpersonal disputes in Central Asia. Before accepting this assumption, it is necessary to explore the role of Islam in non-state dispute resolution processes in Central Asia.

scholarly journals Does The Transatlantic Alliance Have A Future?

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 45-72
Author(s):  
Murat Metin Hakki
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Western World ◽  
The Political ◽  
World War ◽  
Bretton Woods ◽  
Military Alliance ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Stability

No doubt the early progress in European integration was supported by the pax Americana, the stability of the Bretton Woods system and the ideological front formed by the Western world against the Soviet Union (USSR). An increasingly united Europe was also seen as necessary to avoid yet another world war. Long considered America’s most important alliance and a benchmark by which a president’s foreign policy skill is measured, the US-European relationship has been shaken over a series of disputes that culminated during George W. Bush’s presidency. While the years 2004 and 2005 witnessed a gradual recovery of transatlantic relations, the future remains uncertain. Have these problems arisen because of Bush’s presidential style? Or are there other deeper factors underlying transatlantic tensions? What does the future hold for the political and military alliance that bonded Europe and America for over half a century?

scholarly journals Central Asia – the Political Economy of Events in 1995

1996 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-68
Author(s):  
Ahmed Rashid
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Break Up ◽  
Central Asian Republics

No greater disappointment for Pakistan’s foreign policy since the break up of the Soviet Union has been the inability to benefit from increased trade and traffic with five Central Asian Republics (CARs). The continuing civil war in Afghanistan has blocked land routes while neighbouring countries such as Iran and Turkey have surged ahead with strengthening economic links with Central Asia.

Translation and Transformation: English-Language Children's Literature in (Soviet) Russian Guise

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Inggs
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
English Language ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Socialist Realism ◽  
The Political ◽  
Philosophy Of Action ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Free Translation ◽  
Soviet Russia

This article investigates the perceived image of English-language children's literature in Soviet Russia. Framed by Even-Zohar's polysystem theory and Bourdieu's philosophy of action, the discussion takes into account the ideological constraints of the practice of translation and the manipulation of texts. Several factors involved in creating the perceived character of a body of literature are identified, such as the requirements of socialist realism, publishing practices in the Soviet Union, the tradition of free translation and accessibility in the translation of children's literature. This study explores these factors and, with reference to selected examples, illustrates how the political and sociological climate of translation in the Soviet Union influenced the translation practices and the field of translated children's literature, creating a particular image of English-language children's literature in (Soviet) Russia.

New Materials for Studying Preparation and Staging of the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students in 1957

2018 ◽  
pp. 550-563
Author(s):  
Daniel Sawert ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Soviet Society ◽  
Unique Event ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
Cultural Standards ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Local Traditions

The article assesses archival materials on the festival movement in the Soviet Union in 1950s, including its peak, the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students held in 1957 in Moscow. Even now the Moscow festival is seen in the context of international cultural politics of the Cold War and as a unique event for the Soviet Union. The article is to put the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students in the context of other youth festivals held in the Soviet Union. The festivals of 1950s provided a field for political, social, and cultural experiments. They also have been the crucible of a new way of communication and a new language of design. Furthermore, festivals reflected the new (althogh relative) liberalism in the Soviet Union. This liberalism, first of all, was expressed in the fact that festivals were organized by the Komsomol and other Soviet public and cultural organisations. Taking the role of these organisations into consideration, the research draws on the documents of the Ministry of culture, the All-Russian Stage Society, as well as personal documents of the artists. Furthermore, the author has gained access to new archive materials, which have until now been part of no research, such as documents of the N. Krupskaya Central Culture and Art Center and of the central committees of various artistic trade unions. These documents confirm the hypothesis that the festivals provided the Komsomol and the Communist party with a means to solve various social, educational, and cultural problems. For instance, in Central Asia with its partiarchal society, the festivals focuced on female emancipation. In rural Central Asia, as well as in other non-russian parts of the Soviet Union, there co-existed different ways of celebrating. Local traditions intermingled with cultural standards prescribed by Moscow. At the first glance, the modernisation of the Soviet society was succesful. The youth acquired political and cultural level that allowed the Soviet state to compete with the West during the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students. During the festival, however, it became apparent, that the Soviet cultural scheme no longer met the dictates of times. Archival documents show that after the Festival cultural and party officials agreed to ease off dogmatism and to tolerate some of the foreign cultural phenomena.

scholarly journals Frontier Dynamics: Reflections on Evangelical and Tablighi Missions in Central Asia

2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 212-241
Author(s):  
Mathijs Pelkmans
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Kyrgyz Republic ◽  
Missionary Work ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Successes And Failures

AbstractMissionaries have flocked to the Kyrgyz Republic ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Evangelical-Pentecostal and Tablighi missions have been particularly active on what they conceive of as a fertile post-atheist frontier. But as these missions project their message of truth onto the frontier, the dangers of the frontier may overwhelm them. Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork amongst foreign and local Tablighis and evangelical-Pentecostals, this article formulates an analytic of the frontier that highlights the affective and relational characteristics of missionary activities and their effects. This analytic explains why and how missionaries are attracted to the frontier, as well as some of the successes and failures of their expansionist efforts. In doing so, the article reveals the potency of instability, a feature that is particularly evident in missionary work, but also resonates with other frontier situations.

scholarly journals The All-Buryat Congress for the Spiritual Rebirth and Consolidation of the Nation: Siberian politics in the final year of the USSR

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-71
Author(s):  
Melissa Chakars
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
The Political ◽  
Socialist Republic ◽  
Soviet Socialist Republic ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
People's Party ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Russian State ◽  
General Goals

This article examines the All-Buryat Congress for the Spiritual Rebirth and Consolidation of the Nation that was held in the Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in February 1991. The congress met to discuss the future of the Buryats, a Mongolian people who live in southeastern Siberia, and to decide on what actions should be taken for the revival, development, and maintenance of their culture. Widespread elections were carried out in the Buryat lands in advance of the congress and voters selected 592 delegates. Delegates also came from other parts of the Soviet Union, as well as from Mongolia and China. Government administrators, Communist Party officials, members of new political parties like the Buryat-Mongolian People’s Party, and non-affiliated individuals shared their ideas and political agendas. Although the congress came to some agreement on the general goals of promoting Buryat traditions, language, religions, and culture, there were disagreements about several of the political and territorial questions. For example, although some delegates hoped for the creation of a larger Buryat territory that would encompass all of Siberia’s Buryats within a future Russian state, others disagreed revealing the tension between the desire to promote ethnic identity and the practical need to consider economic and political issues.

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