ABSTRACT
In the course of the twentieth century the societies of Inner Asia evolved in a manner that was in many ways similar to that of other developing countries, but they differed in important particulars. In the 1920s and 1930s the foreign influences predominated and the traditional structures were bypassed or superseded. Then gradually after the Second World War—in part because of the distraction of outside influences caused by the war—the indigenous political cultures began to reassert themselves. By the 1980s, the indigenous peoples were seeking to appropriate the political and economic institutions introduced by the foreigners and to assert their desire for greater autonomy as a framework for policies more consonant with their cultures and interests.
