How Central Asia
understands democracy
MARIYA Y. OMELICHEVA
Since gaining independence after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, the republics of Central Asia have undergone
a diverse process of nation and state building. However,
some common threads in Central Asia have emerged, including
a unique understanding of the concept of democracy.Independence was thrust upon the Central Asian republics in the wake of the
Soviet Union’s dissolution, necessitating a series of fundamental processes, includ-
ing state- and nation-building. While the process of constructing a national identity
has been multi-faceted and contested, much of the nation-building concentrated
on political regimes, who dovetailed this process to their efforts of consolidating
power and legitimation. Twenty-five years later, new symbols of nationhood have
replaced the old Soviet paraphernalia. Teams of national historiographers, ethnog-
raphers and political ideologues have developed new national narratives to valor-
ise the nations. The content of the new national identities has been drawn from a
variety of old and new identity markers: Muslim and Atheist, Turkic, Persian, and
Slav, Eastern and Western, and modern and traditional.
Post-Soviet nation-buildingNation and statehood are relatively new phenomena to the peoples and govern-
ments of Central Asian states. While some of the polities that preceded the 20th
century republics had features of statehood (e.g. khanates) they did not exist as