Stable Outside, Fragile Inside?

'This book successfully demonstrates that the experience of state-building should not be conceived teleologically as a civilizing process. Contextualizing the evolutionary experience of state-formation in Central Asia, the authors of this volume highlight, persuasively and shrewdly, that this region is increasingly subject to a paradox involving external stability and domestic fragility.' Marlene Laurelle, Johns Hopkins University, USA 'This collection of high-quality studies provides detailed overviews of relevant scholarship as well as a comprehensive introduction to selected empirical topics. It is thoroughly grounded in the theoretic academic literature that it impressively reviews, criticizes and extends on the basis of particular studies of the region on its own terms.' Robert M. Cutler, Carleton University, Canada 'This is one of the first books to try and analyse the region as a political whole. Because of the hopeless visa regimes which persist in Central Asia, it is almost impossible for one person to get to know all five countries intimately... This is therefore a very useful comparative analysis of five similar, but also very different, countries in what we think is a homogenous region...' Asian Affairs 'This volume is [...] welcome; the conversation it crystallizes is long overdue. Emilian Kavalski has assembled a group of top-notch Central Asia specialists, who contribute both empirical detail and theoretical value... each chapter is entirely worth reading on its own... Readers who know what questions to ask will benefit tremendously from reading this book. Others will read this volume differently, sticking to individual chapters and limiting their learning to what each independently provides. Either way, the book provides a tremendous service in generating a long-overdue conversation about weak statehood in the region - a topic that will remain relevant for the foreseeable future.' Acta Politica '... one will find insights in this work, especiall