DEMOCRACY AND PLURALISM IN MUSLIM EURASIA

This book is devoted to the study and analysis of the prospects for democracy among the Muslim ethnicities of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), both those that have acquired full independence and those remaining within the Russian Federation. The nineteen Western academics and scholars from the Muslim countries and regions of the CIS who contribute to this volume view the establishment of democratic institutions in this region in the context of a wide and complex range of influences, above all the Russian/Soviet political legacy; native ethnic political culture and tradition; the Islamic faith; and the growing polarity between Western civilization and the Muslim world.  

The trend of democratization is not always linear. Nor can democracy be judged by the same standards in all societies. The new Muslim states of the CIS and the Muslim peoples of the Russian Federation are intent on constructing their societies on the basis of their own traditional culture and customs. The issues involved in seeking democratic models which can be adapted to societies which are Islamic and have significant, even dominant ethnic groups and strong authoritarian legacies are certainly relevant to other regions of the world and have implications for the challenges being faced today in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The essays included in this volume demonstrate that, despite the short-term obstacles on the path of democracy and pluralism and on the establishment of a true market economy and an effective civil society, there are forces at work which might make it possible to forge ahead.

On ne peut donc que saluer la publication de ce recueil et mentionner son importance dans le spectre de la recherche occidentale sur l'Asie centrale et plus généralement le monde musulman post-soviétique.

Sebastien Peyrouse

Cahiers du Monde russe et soviétique

"...historically grounded and timely volume...it asks fascinating questions about crucial, if understudied, parts of Eurasia...

Edward Schatz

The Russian Review

CONTRIBUTORS:

Farda Asadov ▪ Vladimir Babak ▪Svante Cornell ▪ Zhanylzhan Dzhunusova ▪ Moshe Gammer ▪ Ildus Ilishev ▪ Vladimir Khanin ▪ Enver Kisriev ▪ Pål Kolstø ▪ Alexei Kudriavtsev ▪ Leonid Levitin ▪ Neil J. Melvin ▪ Vladimir Mesamed ▪ Rafik M. Mukhametshin ▪ Saodat Olimova ▪ Richard Pomfret ▪ Yaacov Ro’i ▪ Azade-Ayse Rorlich ▪ Dov Yaroshevski

Contents

PREFACE

GLOSSARY

INTRODUCTION

PART I: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

1. The Democratic Tradition of Kazakhstan in Historical Context  Zhanylzhan Dzhunusova

2. Elements of Democracy in Dagestan on the Eve of the Russian Conquest  Moshe Gammer

3. The Challenge of Belonging: The Muslims of Late Imperial Russia  and the Contested Terrain of Identity and Gender  Azade-Ayse Rorlich

4. The Hidden Dialogue on Constitutionalism Between the Russian Provisional Government and the Khivan Democracy in 1917  Dov Yaroshevski 

PART II: POTENTIAL PRESSURE POINTS

5. Aid and Ideas: The Impact of Western Economic Support on the Muslim Successor States  Richard Pomfret

6. Islam in the FSU – An Inevitable Impediment to Democracy?   Yaacov Ro’i

PART III: MUSLIM SUCCESSOR STATES

7. Authoritarian Pathways in Central Asia: A Comparison of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan  Neil Melvin

8. The Formation of Political Parties and Movements in Central Asia  Vladimir Babak

9.  The Price of Stability: Kazakhstani Control Mechanisms under Conditions of Cultural and Demographic Bipolarity  Pål Kolstø

10. Liberalization  in Kyrgyzstan: ‘An Island of Democracy’  Leonid Levitin

11. Political Clans and Political Conflicts in Contemporary Kyrgyzstan  Vladimir Khanin

12. Linguistic Policy and the Process of Democratization in Uzbekistan  Vladimir Mesamed

13. Opposition in Tajikistan: Pro et Contra  Saodat Olimova

14. Democracy and Civil Society Building in Independent Azerbaijan: Irrevocable Changes or Temporary Diversion?   Farda Asadov

 PART IV: MUSLIM REGIONS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

15. Post-Soviet Tatarstan: Democratic Strains in the Ideological Evolution of the Tatar National Movement  Rafik Mukhametshin

16. Nation-Building and Minority Rights in Post-Soviet Russia: The Case of Bashkortostan  Ildus Ilishev

17. The Political Process in Dagestan: Prospects for Democracy  Enver Kisriev

18. Ethnic Relations and Democratic Transition in the North-Western Caucasus  Svante Cornell

19. Democratic Values and Political Reality in Chechnya, 1991_1999  Alexei Kudriavtsev

 AFTERWORD

NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

INDEX