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Nation Building in Central Asia
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20348 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
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6 / 1992 |
2,587 Words |
| Author
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Shireen T. Hunter
Shireen T. Hunter is senior visiting fellow at the Center for
European Policy Studies in Brussels, Belgium. |
The end of the Cold War and the disintegration of the Soviet Union's external and internal empires may mean, according to some, the end of history as far as East-West competition is concerned. But for those states just emerging from the ashes of the Soviet empire and for their neighbors, the Soviet Union's disintegration means the resumption of history after 70-year hiatus. One area that is witnessing this return of history is Central Asia and its neighboring regions.
Indeed, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan acutely feel the burden of history as they begin the process of defining their national identities, developing independent and distinct cultural characters, building new political and social institutions, and charting new courses in their external relations. Their historical baggage adds to and complicates their current problems.
The emerging Central Asian states currently are undergoing the same experience that the vast majority of Third World countries underwent during the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, an experience that development experts have called nation building. It is a difficult and potentially destabilizing process, as the experience of most Third World countries illustrates.
In Central Asia, because of the legacy of 70 years of communist rule and the catastrophic consequences of seven decades of economic mismanagement, this process likely will be even more difficult and disruptive. Moreover, in the past, because of the international conditions of bipolarity, the emerging nations of Asia and Africa were subject only to competitive pressures of the two superpowers. Today, the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union are influenced by regional states as well as by great powers, a fact that adds to the difficulties inherent in the nation-building process.
That process entails risk of conflict among Central Asian states (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan) and tension with neighboring countries. Under the right circumstances, however, the emergence of these states could create opportunities for regional cooperation, resulting in economic and political gains for all concerned.
This article discusses some significant challenges facing Central Asian nations. Their response will determine these states' future success or failure and the prospects for regional stability.
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