Tajiks in both regions speak the same languagea variation on persianand have a similar culture, which is more secular than that of the pashtuns. Jun 01, 2009 if war can be understood in part as the failure of politics by ordinary means, the tajik peace process helped to end the war through restoring the politics of compromise. This article examines the causes behind the tajik civil war and the factors that led to the peace agreement in 1997. Armaments, disarmament and international security, oxford. Americans are hopeful that talks with the taliban will take the peace process forward and eventually end the civil war in afghanistan and the longest war in us history. Tajik civil war offers lessons for kyrgyzstan iwpr. Russia sets rampart against islam in case it runs rampant. Jonathan zartman explores the tajik peace process in his dissertation research and points out the rare success of the tajik peace agreement since the historical records indicate difficulty in resolving civil. After the civil war in 1992, sporadic fighting continued in remote areas. For a discussion of the weaknesses of the tajik peace process such as the exclusion of the northern region, see dov lynch, the tajik civil war and peace process, civil wars, vol. The peace agreement completely eliminated the leninabad region khujand from power. The book is set in its political and literary context in a useful introduction.
Usmon was a leading figure in the tajik opposition bloc that fought a fiveyear guerrilla war with government forces until a peace deal was signed in 1997. Journal of the toda institute for global peace and policy research vol. Tajikistan faced civil war in 19921997, which damaged countrys economy and infrastructure. The war in tajikistan three years on united states. I would like to present to your attention a speech on the civil war in tajikistan and its. Irans embassy in dushanbeh has denied that tehran played a negative role in tajikistans civil war in the 1990s. Previous peace deals have broken down in tajikistan, a.
Some change in tajik leadership is needed, as several regions of the country probably will never accept the legitimacy of the current leaders. In the 19921997 war the tajik government appealed to moscow while other groups combined to form the uto. Tajikistani society experienced a civil war, which has been described as a complex crisis of decolonization heathershaw, postconflict tajikistan. However, this peace has not resulted in a confident tajik leadership. The road to peace in tajikistan has been long and tedious.
Civil war and state reconstruction in tajikistan the web site. Tajik adversaries sign a ceasefire the new york times. Jan 15, 2018 all in all, post civil war political developments in tajikistan show a considerable degree of pathdependency, with wartime experiences and the peace process still determining political outcomes to a large extent. Conflict and state building, edited by barnett r rubin and jack snyder. Between 1992 and 1995 government led offensives backed by. Abdullajanov and the third force architecture of international involvement in the tajik peace process. The mutual mistrust and the government campaign against the irpt are, according to analysts in the country, jeopardising the outcome of the postcivil war tajik peace process if it has not, as one of them put it, already been dead for a long while. Twenty three years after its euphoric launch on the white house lawn, the oslo peace process has substantially worsened the position of both parties, and made the prospects. There are very few books in tajik that analyze the civil war, and these are of poor quality.
The eventual impasse led to the peace accords of 1997. Peace process, conflict management and civil society building, asiaplus, no. The book is an exceptional and very important study on the littleknown tajik civil war of the 1990s. The man who will be taking much of the credit for achieving peace in tajikistan is president emomali rahmon. The oslo diplomatic process is the starkest strategic blunder in israels history and one of the worst calamities ever to have afflicted israelis and palestinians. Jun 23, 2017 tajikistan is marking the 20th anniversary of the signing of the tajik peace accord on june 27. Postconflict tajikistan central asian studies series. Randa slim and harold saunders describe the nonofficial inter tajik dialogue, which helped to make the peace process a multilevel one with different actors working in complementary ways. Dec 24, 1996 president emomali rakhmonov of tajikistan and his leading opponent signed a ceasefire here today aimed at ending a fouryear civil war. Rahmon was indeed a part of efforts to reach peace in tajikistan, but he was just one of.
In 1992, tajikistan was engulfed in civil war, with different interest groups vying for control of the state. Jun 26, 2017 rahmon was indeed a part of efforts to reach peace in tajikistan, but he was just one of many people involved in the process. Civil war broke out in may 1992 and by years end conservative estimates put the death toll at more than 20,000. Rahmon was indeed a part of efforts to reach peace in tajikistan, but he was just one of many people involved in the process. Russian hegemony and state breakdown in the periphery. Politics of compromise the tajikistan peace process. Apr, 2015 the settlement of the tajik civil war allows, besides providing a specific case study, the drawing of some fundamental lessons for conflict regulation. The dynamics of the peace process in tajikistan noria research. Internal strife and external response mutahir ahmed this paper is an attempt to analyze the geostrategic significance of tajik civil war and its impact on south and central asian region. A comprehensive peace agreement was reached in 1997. Postsoviet, postconflict tajikistan is an understudied and poorly understood case in conflict studies literature. Uzbekistans role in both the tajik civil war and in the peace process. It is for anyone interested in the practice and analysis of negotiation, mediation, and conflict resolution including educators, researchers, diplomats, lawyers, business leaders, labour negotiators, government officials, and mediators. The initial chapters explore the background to the civil war and reveal that it originated primarily in the dynamics of a power struggle between a new class of political.
From 1990, this country experienced rise in political activism, freedom of speech, sharp political debates, civil war, an internationally led peace process, returning of exiled opposition and their militias, and redistribution of power. Saunders was a key participant in the camp david accords, helped negotiate the iran hostage crisis, and. Another article on the peace negotiations during the. Tajikistan, a newly independent country situated between china and afghanistan, underwent profound political and economic changes since the breakup of the soviet union. The united states also supported the presence of u. In a press release published on wednesday, august 9, the embassy dismissed the allegations raised in a 45minute documentary aired by the tajik state tv as an attempt to foment discord between the two countries. Roundtable on the history of the tajik civil war and the peace process o n january 7t, gulru nabieva ugrad 2004 organized a roundtable discussion at the irexadministered iatp center on the tajik civil war in her home town of khujand. Attract a steady stream of clients and create a thriving holistic practice zacharias, miriam g. Journal of the toda institute for global peace and policy research, vol.
Since 1990, this country has experienced a rise in political activism, freedom of speech, sharp political debates, collapse of state institutions, civic disorder, civil war, an internationally led peace process, return of exiled opposition. Mar 24, 2003 tajikistans civil war and post1997 events. Harold henry saunders december 27, 1930 march 6, 2016 served as the united states assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research between 1975 and 1978 and united states assistant secretary of state for near east affairs between 1978 and 1981. This book explains the causes of the civil war in tajikistan with a historical narrative recognizing long term structural causes of the conflict originating in the soviet. Network activation and violence specialists writes about how the underlying clan structure in tajik society led to the bitter divides and the continuation of violence between individuals during the civil war. Politics after civil war does not emerge from a blank slate, but reflects the war s institutional and social legacies. This paper presents an analytical narrative of the process of civil war and. It shows how the postconflict political order unravelled, with the creeping monopolization of the executive branch by progovernment forces squeezing out all meaningful opposition. In a highly relevant 20 book, central asia analysts kirill nourzhanov and christian bleuer have looked at social relations and the political system in tajikistan at the end of the 1990s civil war in this central asian neighbour of afghanistan. Tajik civil war project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Tajik civil war fades, but the brutality goes on the new.
President emomali rahmons supporters regularly boast of his unrivaled role in ending the conflict and bringing security and prosperity to tajikistan, often assigning him sole credit. The president was later elected chair of the public council, which included important state figures, as well as leaders of civil society institutions. Nov 25, 2009 none of that necessarily means that the pragmatic, powerpolitics approach that ended the tajik civil war wouldnt work in afghanistan. The discussion starts with an overview of different concepts of state weakness, and posits that the tajik civil war was not a conflict over the idea of tajikistan but over power. But the prime movers behind this peace process have been russia, the single most significant backer of the tajik administration led by president imamali rakhmanov, and iran, the leading ally of the islamist camp headed by sayyid abdullah nouri. In light of this limited inclusiveness, the civil war and subsequent peace process did little to resolve the structural causes behind the original outbreak of hostilities, namely. The tajik civil war and peace process, civil wars, vol. The disintegration of the soviet union led to the emergence of five independent central asian states. Naumkin, radical islam in central asia, between pen and rifle new york. Half a million people, nearly onetenth of tajikistans population at the time, had lost their homes. Nov 22, 2012 any citizen of tajikistan who wants to educate himherself on the events of the civil war will have to look beyond the countrys schools and universities.
Although tajikistans 199297 civil war is still a divisive and sensitive issue, a leading tajik academic plans to collect testimony from all sides as a legacy for the future. Within tajikistan neither the tajik military nor any other tajik faction can hope to win a civil war by themselves. Causes and consequences of the civil war in tajikistan, in post soviet political order. Introduction the emergence of independent tajikistan out of the ussr is one of the most painful state building attempts of modern central asian history. Jun 19, 2017 its 20 years since tajikistans 5year civil war came to an end, having claimed between 50,0000 and 100,000 lives. The mutual mistrust and the government campaign against the irpt are, according to analysts in the country, jeopardising the outcome of the post civil war tajik peace process if it has not, as one of them put it, already been dead for a long while. The emergence of the independent republic of tajikistan jumhurii tojikiston was one of the most painful state building attempts in postsoviet history. Afghan peace process should have a holistic approach. Civil war broke out in may 1992 and by years end conservative. The war fortunately was resolved in june 1997 by a peace treaty signed by the two opposing groups of president rahmonovs regime and the united tajik opposition uto.
Iran looms large in central asia despite sanctions and. Russian peacekeeping strategies in the cis, 19921996. In the 1980s, the top commander against the soviets in afghanistan, ahmed shah massoud, was an afghan tajik who helped end the civil war in tajikistan in 1997. The tajikistan peace process, edited by kamoludin abdullaev and catharine barnes. Jul 09, 2008 tajikistan, a former soviet republic, occupies a geopolitically sensitive location at the core of greater central asia. President emomali rahmons supporters regularly boast of his unrivaled role in ending the conflict. Tajikistan is marking the 20th anniversary of the signing of the tajik peace accord that ended a fiveyear civil war between the secular government and the coalition of opposition groups led by islamic forces. The article maps the peace process and postwar powersharing in tajikistan. As heathershaw notes, drawing a line between war and peace in tajikistan proves an.
The book contributes to the field of conflict studies with a precise cause analysis approach and to literary studies with its original sources. This publication takes an indepth look at what was an exceptionally wellcoordinated peace process involving local civil society, the international community, and a newly. On june 6, 1995 the united states institute of peace organized a forum on the tajikistan conflict to explore prospects for negotiations and an end to the war. Lynch, the tajik civil war and peace process, civil wars 4, no.
The tajikistani civil war also known as the tajik civil war or the war in tajikistan, began in. Historys bleak afghan lesson until all parties involved in afghanistans civil war see it as a waste of resources then there wont be a lasting peace. Meanwhile, tajik nongovernmental organizations working on citizenship education and civil society sought to work across the regional divides. Tajikistan is the poorest nation in central asia, with over 80% of the population living in poverty. From civil war towards civil society conciliation resources. Gurukov, along with 10,000 other tajik refugees, was repatriated last year in the framework of the fragile 1997 peace agreement ending a fiveyear civil war. The peace agreement is supposed to be along the lines of the steinmeier formula. Professor ibrahim usmonov has set up an institution called the foundation for dialogue between civilisations to carry out the painstaking work, which should result in a comprehensive archive and help establish a. Jun 27, 2017 rahmon was indeed a part of efforts to reach peace in tajikistan, but he was just one of many people involved in the process. Tajikistan institute for war and peace reporting tajikistan journalists trained by iwpr produce news, analysis, and comment pieces on the issues that affect their countries and communities. Home tribune premium content opinion international the diplomat how fragile is the peace in tajikistan. Tajik civil war and to examine the many different problems which the conflict. The tajik civil war erupted in 1992 and lasted for five years. In a highly relevant 20 book, central asia analysts kirill nourzhanov and christian.
The iraniansaudi rivalry is undoubtedly centered on the mideast, but its also creeping into central asia, too. Causes and implications, united states institute of peace. The moro national liberation front mnlf in the mindanao final agreement. From 19921997 tajikistan embarked on a bitter civil war, which extracted a. Afterwards, he led a commission set up to disband paramilitary groups, and later served as a government minister under a powersharing arrangement that was part of the peace agreement. The negotiations, however slowmoving, must be continued, as the alternative is the possibility of a renewed, wider civil war. Tajikistan celebrates 20th anniversary of peace accord. Since its 1992 independence tajikistan has been plagued by epidemic unemployment and a collapsed economy. Jun 28, 2017 20 years later, tajikistan rewrites civil war history. Japan unlike other countries of the region wasnt much involved into conflict in tajikistan, but in opposite, it. This article examines the causes behind the tajik civil war and the factors. But by 1997, a powersharing agreement had been signed. The wartime origins of democratization explores these ideas through an original dataset of rebel governance and rigorous comparative case analysis. The wartime origins of democratization by reyko huang.
Will muhiddin kabiri, the leader of the islamic renaissance party of tajikistan irpt, return to the country this week to celebrate the 18th anniversary of the peace treaty that ended the tajik civil war. Feb 21, 2019 the us special envoy for afghanistan, zalmay khalilzad, has already held extensive six days talks with the taliban in doha last month. Likvidatsiia ekonomicheskogo neravenstva narodov sovetskogo. Russia is seen as a key to breaking the current stalemate. As many as 50,000 people have died and thousands more have been wounded and made homeless by the civil war that has raged in tajikistan, the poorest of the central asian republics of the former soviet union. There have been a series of peace attempts to solve the civil war by political arrangements until the rajapaksa regime decided to declare war against ltte in 2006. As germany weighs in on the side of ukrainian nationalism this has led some to say this conflict is a replay of the second world war. Irans behaviour in the case of the tajik civil war shows that far from being a destabilising. Peacemaking diplomacy in the tajikistan civil war is the first and the only research monograph devoted to the examination of the tajik peace negotiation and mediation. Nov 26, 1993 tajik civil war fades, but the brutality goes on. The rise of militant islam in central asia new haven, ct. Civil war in tajikistan and post conflict rehabilitation. It is for anyone interested in the practice and analysis of negotiation, mediation, and conflict resolution including educators, researchers, diplomats. Irina zviagelskaya, the tajikistan conflict, sipri yearbook 1999.
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