Review: Untying the Afghan Knot
| Published date | 01 December 1994 |
| Author | Mark N. Katz |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070209404900412 |
| Date | 01 December 1994 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
956
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
are taking
place in
the
former
Soviet
Union.
If
the
transitions
from
communism
throughout
central
and
eastern Europe
are
unique
because
the
post-communist
states
must simultaneously
maintain
favourable
conditions
for
the
construction
of
capitalism
and
for
democ-
racy,
then
the problems
faced
by
many
of
the
fifteen
former
Soviet
republics
are entirely
without
precedent.
The
majority
of
the
Soviet
successor
states
that
had
either
declared
(and
not
without
a
struggle)
or obtained
their
independence
must
also
face
the
daunting
task of
nation-building.
Furthermore,
as
each
contributor
to
this
volume
points
out,
the
fall
of
this
geographically
specific
empire
has
not
merely
ended
a
long,
difficult,
and
sometimes
violent
relationship
between
proud
and
often
very
diverse
nations.
The
search
for
and
the
development
of
'full
democracy
in
all
parts
of
the
former
Soviet
empire,'
as
one
contributor
put
it,
will
influence the
'new
forms
of
cooperation
between
sovereign
and
independent
state
units.'
Two
contributions
are
especially
noteworthy.
Lawrence
Shyu
poign-
antly
considers
the
question
of
ethnic
minorities
under
Chinese
rule
and
draws
disturbing
parallels
between
the
former
Soviet
Union
and
the
People's
Republic
of
China.
And
Larry
Black
furnishes
an
alto-
gether
original
and
revealing
chapter
on the
Soviet
and
Gorbachev's
(mis)
perception of
the
nature
of
Canadian
federal-provincial
relations.
Its
readability,
its
helpful
select
bibliography,
and
its
straightforward
presentation
make
this
volume
accessible
to
both
a
general audience
and
to
undergraduate
students
of
post-Soviet
politics
and
the
successor
states.
L.W.
Gluchowski/University
of
Toronto
UNTYING
THE
AFGHAN KNOT
Negotiating
Soviet
withdrawal
Riaz
M.
Khan
Durham
NC:
Duke
University
Press,
1991,
viii,
402pp,
US$
4 9 .95
In
this
book,
Pakistani
diplomat
Riaz
Khan
recounts
the
history
of
the
United
Nations-sponsored
negotiations
over
Afghanistan
which
cul-
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