Myth, Legitimacy and Nationalism in Central Asia

Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, communism has no longer been available as a basis on which regimes in Central Asia have been able to claim legitimacy. In its absence, regimes sought to remain in power by invoking a variety of myths of nationalism. Myths of this sort may or may not be true. In various Central Asian states, different forms of symbolism, imagery and myth have been invoked to suggest that a particular nation, represented by a particular regime, enjoys a special or ancestral identification with a given territory.