This thesis deals with the extent of which the government of Tajikistan has used the narrative of Islamist extremism and global terrorism in order to deprive its Islamic political opposition of its...Show moreThis thesis deals with the extent of which the government of Tajikistan has used the narrative of Islamist extremism and global terrorism in order to deprive its Islamic political opposition of its legitimacy and right to exist. In doing so, the Tajik government has made its final move towards the consolidation of its one-party rule over the former Soviet state. Firstly, the thesis' intention is to research how the Tajik government has used frames in order to undermine and crush its legal opposition. Second, it deals with the government’s general relation to religion in society, one which is mostly defined by unease and a wish to control Islam. It is argues that this second element has been crucial for the Tajik regime in order to effectively clear its political opponents. The main argument of this thesis is to demonstrate how, after years of relative political plurality, Tajikistan’s political dimension has shifted towards a one-party system with a closed political space.Show less
This thesis seeks to analyse the official discourse by Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on the Rogun Dam issue with a constructivist approach in order to find out whether the discourse invokes conflict...Show moreThis thesis seeks to analyse the official discourse by Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on the Rogun Dam issue with a constructivist approach in order to find out whether the discourse invokes conflict rhetoric. It analyses official statements from 2012 to 2015. The Rogun Dam project is a hydropower project that was developed during Soviet times, but its construction was halted when the Soviet Union collapsed. Recently, the Tajik government announced its desire to resume the construction of the Rogun Dam in order to generate hydropower for economic purposes. Uzbekistan, as a riparian of the water flowing from Tajikistan, fiercely objected the construction plans. Therefore, the World Bank was asked to undertake feasibility studies on the hydropower project. As the feasibility studies proceeded, Uzbekistan appeared to seek different ways to oppose the construction of the Rogun Dam. In 2012, both Tajikistan and Uzbekistan appeared to be offensive towards each other in their official statements when mentioning the Rogun Dam. Over the course of time researched, tones towards each other softened. Both countries were also able to improve their bilateral relations on other issues than the Rogun Dam at the end of the period researched. Therefore, this thesis concludes that the official discourse on the Rogun Dam by Tajikistan and Uzbekistan does not invoke conflict rhetoric.Show less
Five years of bloodshed in between warring factions of Tajikistan had culminated in the signing of the 1997 Peace Agreement which was designed and supervised by international actors. The process...Show moreFive years of bloodshed in between warring factions of Tajikistan had culminated in the signing of the 1997 Peace Agreement which was designed and supervised by international actors. The process was hailed as one of the most successful peace-building operations in conflict resolution history. Thirteen years later, Tajikistan witnessed an insurgency which stemmed from the very same resentments that caused the civil war in the first place. Why did the peace agreement fail? To answer this question, this thesis draws on conflict resolution theory by identifying its claims and shortcomings. The study pinpoints four main propositions made by conflict resolution theorists, namely: role of regional identity, state capacity, third party mediation and agreement design and power-sharing, and evaluates their effects on the resurgence of violence in Tajikistan. This thesis additionally tests the relevance of conflict resolution theories by applying them to Tajikistan archetypal case answering the central question of ‘how can the 2010 resurgence of violence in Tajikistan be explained by conflict resolution theory?’ The study finds that while conflict resolution theory is effective in explaining the resurgence of violence in Tajikistan, peace-building in Tajikistan was unsuccessful; the democratisation process did not take place, the agreement was democratically limited and failed to address the causes of conflict while power-sharing provisions were short-lived and naïve. The peace process in Tajikistan resulted in a ‘negative peace’ where peace is characterised by the mere absence of war, demonstrating that the capacities of peace-building are limited, and should be treated with caution.Show less
