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The Post-Soviet Wars: Rebellion, Ethnic Conflict, and Nationhood in the Caucasus
Contributor(s): Zurcher, Christoph (Author)
ISBN: 0814797091     ISBN-13: 9780814797099
Publisher: New York University Press
OUR PRICE:   $88.11  
Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats
Published: November 2007
Qty:
Annotation: With his exciting narratives and compelling analysis of the twentieth century's Caucasian Wars, Zrcher brings events on the periphery of Europe into the mainstream of social science and comparative politics. Disputing existing explanations of internal wars, he shows that rather than mountainous terrain or poverty, a more powerful causal explanation of civil bloodletting can be located in state capacities and the abilities of combatants to finance their struggles. This book is sure to stir debate.
--Ronald Grigor Suny, University of Michigan

Democracy is commonly paired with order while ethnic violence is paired with strife and chaos. The Post-Soviet Wars painstakingly documents that both violence and stability have institutional reasons and must be organized politically by specific human agencies. This lesson is obviously relevant to the contemporary discussion of democratization as well as failing states, let alone the effects wrought by the American war on terror.
--Georgi Derlugyan, author of "Bourdieu's Secret Admirer in the Caucasus: A World-System Biography"

The Post-Soviet Wars is a comparative account of the organized violence in the Caucusus region, looking at four key areas: Chechnya, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Dagestan. Zrchers goal is to understand the origin and nature of the violence in these regions, the response and suppression from the post-Soviet regime and the resulting outcomes, all with an eye toward understanding why some conflicts turned violent, whereas others not. Notably, in Dagestan actual violent conflict has not erupted, an exception of political stability for the region. The book provides a brief history of the region, particularly thecollapse of the Soviet Union and the resulting changes that took place in the wake of this toppling. Zrcher carefully looks at the conditions within each region -- economic, ethnic, religious, and political -- to make sense of why some turned to violent conflict and some did not and what the future of the region might portend.

This important volume provides both an overview of the region that is both up-to-date and comprehensive as well as an accessible understanding of the current scholarship on mobilization and violence.
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Political Science | International Relations - General
- History | Russia & The Former Soviet Union
Dewey: 947.508
LCCN: 2007023003
Physical Information: 0.94" H x 6.1" W x 9.16" (1.18 lbs) 308 pages
Themes:
- Cultural Region - Russia
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:

A brief history of the Caucusus region during and after the Post-Soviet Wars

The Post-Soviet Wars is a comparative account of the organized violence in the Caucusus region, looking at four key areas: Chechnya, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Dagestan. Zürcher's goal is to understand the origin and nature of the violence in these regions, the response and suppression from the post-Soviet regime and the resulting outcomes, all with an eye toward understanding why some conflicts turned violent, whereas others not. Notably, in Dagestan actual violent conflict has not erupted, an exception of political stability for the region. The book provides a brief history of the region, particularly the collapse of the Soviet Union and the resulting changes that took place in the wake of this toppling. Zürcher carefully looks at the conditions within each region--economic, ethnic, religious, and political--to make sense of why some turned to violent conflict and some did not and what the future of the region might portend.

This important volume provides both an overview of the region that is both up-to-date and comprehensive as well as an accessible understanding of the current scholarship on mobilization and violence.

Contributor Bio(s): Zurcher, Christoph: -

Christoph Zürcher is Professor of Political Science at the Free University of Berlin. He is the editor of Potentials of Dis/Order: Explaining Violence in the Caucasus and in the Former Yugoslovia.