The Islamic revival in Central Asia: A potent force or a misconception?

During the Ž rst months after independence in 1991, numerous scholars and commentators suggested that the deŽ ning characteristic of the Ž ve Central Asian republics—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan— was their Islamic heritage and predicted that the region would unite with the wider Muslim world to create a fundamentalist bloc. The concern for radical and fundamentalist interpretations of Islam is legitimate, as there is a strong regional inclination toward Islam. However, the widely held assumption that Islam is likely to be a potent force in shaping the future of the Central Asian republics is not entirely accurate. In fact, there are a number of factors suggesting that these republics will not fall under the sway of an Islam-led opposition and that a uniŽ ed Muslim state across the whole of Central Asia will not materialize. This analysis is an attempt to put into perspective the dynamics of the Islamic revival in Central Asia and to provide a realistic assessment of its role in the region. I will do so by: