Islamic Movements and Democracy in Central Asia:
Integration or Isolation?
Anthony C. Bowyer
International Foundation for Election Systems
[email protected]
Anthony Bowyer is Program Manager, Caucasus & Central Asia
at the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES).He
has more than 13 years of experience in designing and
managing election assistance, civil society, civic education and
political party development programs in the Caucasus and
Central Asian republics. During that time he has worked closely
with individuals and groups including political leaders, election
officials, members of parliament, civil society representatives
and students. At The International Foundation for Election
Systems (IFES), he develops and implements projects in civic
and voter education, political party strengthening, election systemic and legal reform, public
opinion survey research and conflict resolution. In addition, Bowyer has been responsible for
financial management, personnel management, and project start-up and close-out for multiple
projects valued at more than $25 million since 1995.
Anthony Bowyer earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian Area Studies from the University
of Minnesota (1992), a Master of Arts degree in International Relations from the University of
Miami (1994) and an honorary degree from The Engineering Academy of the Republic of
Tajikistan (2000). He is fluent in Russian.
ABSTRACT - The strategically-placed, former Soviet republics in Central Asia (Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan) have been slow to embrace a post-Soviet
political structure that includes opposition political parties. Part of this hesitation is the perceived
risk to political stability derived from an open and fair competition that would threaten the
existing post-Soviet political order, which has largely been dominated by successor regimes
exerting authoritarian control over social and political life.
These regimes, which have left little space for political opposition, can be divided into two
categories: the resource-rich countries (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) and the
mountainous, resource-poor countries (Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan). While the former have, with
the exception of Turkmenistan and its new president Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, seen one
president since independence in 1991, those in the latter category have witnessed dramatic
political transition, with one (Tajikistan) having undergone a brutal five-year civil war pitting an
Islamic opposition against the ruling elite and the other (Kyrgyzstan) having survived a largely
peaceful though ongoing, chaotic political transition.
Given the continuing economic challenges of countries in Central Asia, which aside from
Kazakhstan export tens if not hundreds of thousands of seasonal labor migrants every year - an
increasing percentage of whom are disaffected young men - what role is Islam playing and what
is the future of Islamic political movements in the short- and long-term political development of
these countries? Can Islamic movements be champions of democratic transition or are they
predestined to follow an alternative course of obtaining power?
This paper will focus on two case studies: the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) the sole, legally-registered Islamic political movement in the whole of Central Asia - and the
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which officially has been designated a terrorist
organization by the U.S. Government. While the IRPT has attempted to play by the rules and
gain power through an often-flawed electoral process, the IMU has executed a number of attacks
on government resources in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and continues to call for the
creation of an Islamic caliphate based on Shari ‘a law in the heart of Central Asia.
What, then, is the future of Islam and democracy in Central Asia, considering the aging
authoritarian leadership and an embracing of “traditional” practices by the youth-majority
populations of countries in the region? This paper will use the case studies mentioned to analyze
and assess this future.