Saviours of the nation or robber barons? Warlord politics in Tajikistan

Abstract

Among all former Soviet Central Asian republics Tajikistan alone has suffered Complete state failure in the course of post-communist transition. The contraction of central government during the final years of perestroika, and especially in the course of a short but brutal 1992 civil war, has produced a situation where large segments of the population have had to depend on various strongmen as far as their livelihood, security and often very existence are concerned. The 1997 Peace Agreement put an end to the civil conflict and led to a degree of stabilisation at the macro-political level, but it did not eliminate a plethora of military cliques who periodically challenged the authority of President Emomali Rahmonov's regime and jeopardised the process of national reconciliation. Headlines in the Western media such as 'Peace lies in hands of brutal warlords' and 'Robber barons flouting the authority of a weak government are tipping the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan back into chaos' adequately reflected the situation on the ground at the time. Seven years later Tajikistan still has plenty of wa rlords fighting 'bitter battles for the control over regional and local economic resources and opportunities'. Arguably, they are not as powerful and ubiquitous as in neighbouring Afghanistan, yet their sheer endurance and continuing influence warrant a closer look into the phenomenon of warlordism in Tajikistan.