Tajikistan’s Iron Man

Imomali Rahmonov has been reelected president of Tajikistan, but only after amending his nation’s constitution to allow his run for a third term. Though his margin of victory was low by the standards of the strongmen of the world – he received only 79.3 percent of the vote – the nod to democratic process cannot disguise the administration’s control over the outcome. Official observers from outside the country offered little protest about Rahmonov’s grip on power in this Central Asian country because of its strategic position as neighbor to Afghanistan, a front in the US-led war on terror. Compromising good governance for a stable government in Tajikistan, though, is a risky bargain. A fragile economy, potential regional divisions and the allure of radical Islam for a generation deprived of adequate education or services by its government will quickly combine and reveal structural flaws in the country’s stability. –YaleGlobal