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Paradox of Power: The Logics of State Weakness in Eurasia (Central Eurasia in Context)

Paradox of Power: The Logics of State Weakness in Eurasia (Central Eurasia in Context)

by Edward Schatz (Editor), John Heathershaw (Editor)

  • New

    Paperback 2017

    $68.04
Synopsis

State weakness is seen to be a widespread problem throughout Central Asia and other parts of the former Soviet Union, but also is often found more broadly in the developing/post-colonial world. It is typically characterized by widespread corruption, unrestrained power of oligarchs, ineffectual services, poor protection for human rights or even basic policing, etc. This volume focuses on cases in Eurasia, mostly in Central Asia, but also including Ukraine and Russia and even a comparison case from Africa. This results in a volume that tackles a fundamental concept in political theory in an important regional context, but with the meaningful inclusion of a wider context. The contributors are both building toward a new general theory of state weakness and deepening our understanding of the phenomenon in Eurasia, which makes this a valuable volume.

$68.04

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 344
 Edition: 1
 Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Published: 30 Jun 2017
ISBN 10: 0822964414
ISBN 13: 9780822964414

Media Reviews
An impressive collection, providing fresh, original analysis. This volume presents a solid mix of common themes and individual, compelling chapters, and fascinating topics. Heathershaw and Schatz wrestle with an important concept--the strong-weak state distinction--and offer a conceptual set of alternative roles and dynamics that they observe states playing in the post-Soviet space. It will become a standard source on the topic of the state in Eurasia.
--Alexander Cooley, Columbia University
A thrill to read. Paradox of Power is at once theoretically compelling and empirically rich. We desperately need to understand how these states function, and step into the 'shadows'--shadows that we ourselves cast--and look anew at how Eurasian governments work. This volume makes that step, allowing the reader to evaluate anew the weaknesses, but equally important, the strengths of the enduring Eurasian state.
--Eric McGlinchey, George Mason University
Author Bio
John Heathershaw is associate professor of international relations at the University of Exeter, UK. He has served on the board of the Central Eurasian Studies Society and the European Society for Central Asian Studies. He is the author of Post-Conflict Tajikistan: The Politics of Peacebuilding and the Emergence of Legitimate Order and coauthor of Dictators without Borders: Power and Money in Central Asia.

Edward Schatz is associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto, where he is also director of its Central Asia Program. A former president of the Central Eurasian Studies Society, he is the editor of Political Ethnography: What Immersion Contributes to the Study of Power and the author of Modern Clan Politics: The Power of Blood in Kazakhstan and Beyond.