Legitimation through War? Understanding Regime Consolidation in Tajikistan through the Context of Tajik-Kyrgyz Border Conflict

Abstract

This thesis aims to investigate the legitimation process of the regime in Tajikistan in the context of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border conflict. It will be suggested that the conflict can be used as a legitimation mechanism, which is instrumentalized by the central authorities to justify their being in power and to ultimately strengthen that position, thus consolidating the regime itself. Through the case of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border conflict, this thesis aims to identify how exactly the central authorities of Tajikistan claim legitimation. This research tries to understand whether the discourse on the peaceful resolution of conflict is just another regime-legitimation technique aimed to consolidate the power in the hands of the ruling elites, or whether the conflict itself is part of the legitimization. The conflicts suggest that there could be a clash between the legitimization processes of the central and the local elites, because, on the one hand, there is a peaceful conflict-resolving rhetoric, but on the other hand, the clashes at the border constantly appear. The narratives of the conflict seemed to differ at the central and the local levels. Hence, this research aims to understand whether there are two opposing and mutually exclusive legitimization processes going on or whether they complement each other towards the regime consolidation in Tajikistan. Aside from the central ones, this paper will discuss how the local authorities claim their portion of legitimacy through the Tajik-Kyrgyz border conflict and how that affects the border tensions between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Ultimately, this thesis aims to capture the process of regime legitimation through the conflict.