| Summary/Abstract |
The difficulty of building long-lasting peace and comprehensive security in societies emerging from conflict and external rule seems to be particularly pronounced in the peripheries of the former Soviet Union and its sphere of influence. The limited success and failures of long-standing efforts to build up and shape state structures and institutions that guarantee democratic, peaceful and secure development have led to increased questioning of the assumptions of liberal and institutionalist approaches that have long dominated scientific and policy debates. Given the sustained and increasingly sophisticated ways in which regional regimes shape and restrict possibilities for cooperation and interaction, and, more significantly, the livelihoods of their populations, there appears to be ample room for further discussion of new ways of grasping current political and societal developments in Central Asia against their historical background.
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