ABSTRACT
The lengthy peace process that put an end to a violent civil war in Tajikistan represents a fairly successful case of multiparty mediation in which the activities of external actors were “exceptionally well coordinated”. Tajikistan’s physical geography prompted the creation of several culturally diverse groupings. Already in the early 1920s, Basmachi fighters from the mountainous areas demonstrated their intent to stop the advancement of the Soviet Union into Central Asia. In order to suppress any form of resistance, “the Red Army massacred more than 10,000 Tajiks and Uzbeks between 1922 and 1926, according to official estimates”. By 1989, inter-group skirmishes over the allocation of scarce resources escalated into violent clashes. In July 1993, 25 Russian border guards were killed during an offensive by opposition forces that took place along the border with Afghanistan. In order to counterbalance the asymmetric power, the Islamic-democratic coalition sought external support from Iran.
