Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Radical Islam in Central Asia: Between Pen and Rifle (Soviet Bloc and After)

This original study by distinguished scholar Vitaly V. Naumkin offers an authoritative analysis of the key militant Islamic organizations in Central Asia. Long veiled in secrecy, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Hizb at-Tahrir al-Islami, and the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan are illuminated here for the first time. Drawing on his extensive fieldwork and an unprecedented array of Central Asian primary sources, the author thoroughly compares their doctrines, power bases, and political practices. The book also explores the history of political Islam in Central Asia and explains the concurrent roots of Islamic militancy from the early disputes between Salafis and traditionalists, through the period of Islamic revival in the late 1980s when radical groups first emerged, and up to their growing strength today. Naumkin analyzes the human dimension in Central Asian Islam through the lives of the most significant theologians, mullahs, underground preachers, and teachers in the region, evaluating their role in the spread of Islamic radicalism. Providing fresh insight into the balance between peaceful and militant means of struggle for power used by Islamic movements, the author considers into the possibility of dialogue with the Islamists and the outcome of the "Tajik experiment" that brought former Islamic radicals into the government. All those interested in the development of political Islam will find this study an invaluable resource. Review Drawing on a range of sources to provide detailed accounts of the history, organisation, activities and ideologies of the movements and the biographies of key actors, [Naumkin] goes a long way to untangle the myths and stereotypes that have surrounded the phenomenon of radical Islam in the region.--Maria Louw "Central Asian Survey "This insightful book will be of great interest to scholars, government officials, and those concerned with understanding the complex world of Central Asia. Highly recommended.--S.A. Kochanek, Pennsylvania State University "CHOICE "Illuminates, for the first time, the varied complexities of largely clandestine movements shaped by contradictory and often opaque currents. The author's mastery of this unusual body of sources on a topic central to contemporary international politics sets it apart from other works of this kind.--Robert Crews, Stanford University About the Author Vitaly Naumkin is president of the International Center for Strategic and Political Studies and professor at Moscow State University.