Like the other former Soviet countries profiled in this edited volume, Tajikistan experienced the challenges of state-building following an independence that was thrust upon the region’s leaders in 1991. Rather than transitioning towards democracy as Kyrgyzstan did, Tajikistan, like the other states in the region, with the exception of Kyrgyzstan, has become increasingly authoritarian, with informal, factional politics remaining central to the perseverance of authoritarian rule.