Counterterrorism Policies in Central Asia: The Role of Global War on Terror in Strategies of Repression and Cooptation

Abstract

There has been a growing international concern about the misuse of counter-terrorism policies by the Central Asian governments to topple their political opposition and suppress religious diversity. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA), this thesis investigates how the Central Asian regimes applied methods of repression, cooptation, and legitimation to earn domestic and international approval despite the massive violations of human rights. The research studies a sample population of international documents, national independence day speeches, and newspaper articles in five Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan to identify how counter-terrorism discourses are framed and utilized on different levels of analysis. The Global War on Terror (GWOT) provided means and justifications to increase repressions, while the international cooperation to fight terrorism served for self-assurance of the Central Asian regimes.