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Institutional Reform in Central Asia

Politico-Economic Challenges

Edited by Joachim Ahrens, Herman W. Hoen

To Be Published September 30th 2012 by Routledge – 224 pages

Series: Central Asian Studies

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Description

The countries of Central Asia are increasingly the focus of intense international attention because of their geopolitical and economic importance as well as their unsettled transition processes. The region faced enormous challenges when the Soviet Union disintegrated. Overall, it has made rudimentary progress in opening up to the international community, creating market institutions, and building more inclusive, democratic political processes. Daunting challenges remain - reflected in the region’s relatively low economic and human development indicators. In particular, reforms of the institutional environment have been largely neglected. It is evident that the lack of effective institution building as well as rule enforcement in the economic and political realms represents one of the key weaknesses and drawbacks of transition. Hence, crafting adequate market institutions will be of utmost importance in the years ahead.

This book explores key aspects of institution building as well as economic and political governance in Central Asia through an interdisciplinary approach. Contributors from different disciplines such as economics, political economy, political science, sociology, law, and ethnology investigates the challenges of institutional transition in a non-democratic region.

Making an important contribution to understanding of political-economic developments in Central Asia, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of political economy, comparative economics, development studies and Central Asian studies.

Contents

Part 1: Overview 1. Economic Transition and Institutional Change in Central Asia: An Overview Joachim Ahrens and Herman W. Hoen Part 2: Country-Specific Investigations 2. Turkmenistan after Turkmenbashi Richard Pomfret 3. Transition Strategies in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan since Independence: Paradoxes and Prospects Herman W. Hoen and Farrukh Irnazarov 4. Social Capital and the Formation of a Market Economy: The Case of Uzbekistan Manuela Troschke 5. Poverty, Governance, and Participation in Central Asia: The Example of Tajikistan Frank Bliss 6. The Political Economy of Kazakh Foreign Policy Andrea Schmitz 7. The Institutional Persistance of Patrimonialism in the Kyrgyz Republic: Testing a Path Dependency (1991-2010) Rubén Ruiz Ramas Part 3: Governance and Institutions 8. The Political Economy of Governance Reform in Central Asia Joern Graevingholt 9. Informal Integration and Decentralization in Central Asia Alexander Libman 10. Analyzing Bottlenecks for Institutional Development in Central Asia – Is it Oil, Aid, or Geography? Inna Melnykovska and Rainer Schweickert Part 4: External Actors and International Structures 11. Will Russia Regain its Dominant Role in Central Asia? Martin C. Spechler and Dina R. Spechler 12. Central Asia and Russia: Two Alternative Perspectives Alexander Libman 13. The European Union and Central Asia: A Case of Policy Transfer? Nienke de Deugd 14. The USA and Central Asia: Intermittent Allies Dina R. Spechler and Martin C. Spechler 15. Central Asian Countries: Forms of International Integration and the Impact of the Crisis of 2008 Martin Myant and Jan Drahokoupil

Author Bio

Joachim Ahrens is Professor of International Economics at the Private University of Applied Sciences Göttingen, Germany.

Herman W. Hoen is Professor of International Political Economy at the Department of International Relations of the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.