The Factors of the Stability of Authoritarian Governments in Central Asia An Ancient Heritage and a Modern Superstructure

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and independence, the five countries of Central Asia have been able to endure their independent sovereignty without crisis, conflict, war, and instability. The main question of the present research states: which factor leads us to political and sovereign stability? And what has been the extent of the Soviet Union’s role and influence in this stability? The hypothesis and answer to this question is based on this foundation that the continuity of the former party leaders’ governance, traditions of political patriarchy, and the effective heritage of the Soviet Union in establishing political, civil, and social institutions in these countries have been the most important factors of this stability. Each of the leaders of these republics has tried to establish the foundations of legitimacy and acceptability on the basis of traditions and continue their authoritarian ruling on this basis. The heritage of Lenin and Stalin’s nation-building and Soviet Union’s developmental policies, as well as forty years of governing experience by indigenous people in these countries and its combination with traditional authoritarianism has led to political and social stability in Central Asian Republics after independence. The main purpose of the present research is to understand the political complexities in Central Asia and find the historical roots of contemporary trends and the effect of nation-building process in these countries and a delicate comparison with their neighbor, Afghanistan, which is faced with instability due to the absence of nation-building and the non-effective heritage of Britain. In this research, in addition to benefitting from personal and field experiences, library resources has been used on the basis of content analysis of historical events and sociological perspective.