The Handbook of Central Asia: A Comprehensive Survey of the Republics

Jerked into premature independence by the rapid disintegration of the Soviet Union at the beginning of the last decade, the five Central Asian republics ‐ Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan ‐ inherited similar political and social problems which, to a certain extent, mirrored those of the indigenous peoples of Africa whose natural territories were indiscriminately carved up by the European powers in the nineteenth century. Never having enjoyed a real autonomy, they were the visible relics of Stalin‐imposed political entities pre‐eminently designed to prevent them uniting into a pan‐Islamic movement which would threaten the regional hegemony and stability of...