Kyrgyzstan

My dissertation comparatively analyzes three puzzling cases of political transition—democratization in Kyrgyzstan, neo-authoritarianism in Uzbekistan, and regime disintegration in Tajikistan—which typify different trajectories in the post-Soviet and other post-colonial states. I…

This dissertation examines how the nature of state break-up affects the simultaneous processes of regional cooperation and state formation in transitional settings. By situating state formation within the context of the international system, I develop a model to integrate domest…

The five Central Asian states, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, have already experienced one regime change as they moved from Soviet to post-Soviet systems, and it is unlikely that this will be the only change to occur. Because democracy has trium…

This dissertation examines the national-democratic movements in Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan before and after the collapse of the USSR. It looks at the question of why the movements that began from similar points ended up with different outcomes. The selection of cases relies on th…

Since becoming independent in 1991, Kyrgyzstan has endured two revolutions, ethnic violence, and economic decay. Against this tumultuous background have been ongoing attempts to construct a viable Kyrgyz nationalism and the “resurgence” of religion in the public sphere. In many …

This dissertation examines the interaction between formal and informal institutions in the process of migration from Kyrgyzstan to the United States for low-wage labor. More specifically, it demonstrates how formal and informal institutions interact in the process of irregular l…

This dissertation is a comparative analysis of state policymaking to advance women's status toward gender equality in Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan from 1995 to 2004. I show that the diffusion of international norms of gender equality caused the establishment of women's policy age…

This dissertation shows how market reforms can inadvertently foster constituencies within the ruling coalition who are willing to publicly oppose post-Soviet autocrats. In two cases of market reforming autocracies, Kazakhstan in Kyrgyzstan, defectors from the business elite have…

Following the collapse of the Soviet system, clan and faction networking has gained considerable attention in Central Asia. This research project explores the extent to which social group identity, specifically clan identity, shapes people's political preferences leading them to…

Due to their scarcity and importance, energy resources have become an important consideration in world politics. To date this consideration had been studied mostly in the context of big states like the United States and China among others. This research examines the impact of en…

This thesis looks at competing influences in Central Asia since 1991. It looks at all five Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, and identifies the three main powers with competing influences as Russia, Islam and America. It ai…

After the demise of the Soviet Union, six of the newly independent states were of Islamic background: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tadjikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan, Five of these six are in Central Asia, with Azerbaijan being in the Caucuses region. Specifically …