AUTHOR APPROVED'Offering a novel way to understand the political structures of states in two significant areas of the non-European world, this book will make a significant contribution to thinking about the development of the state systems in the former colonial world.' Roger Owen, Professor of Middle East History, Harvard University
'Theoretically rigorous and informed by important new research, each contributor sheds original light on these diverse Muslim states' transition from empire to sovereignty... required reading for scholars and decision makers alike.'
Eugene Rogan, Director of the Middle East Centre, University of Oxford
'An impressive comparative historical and political analysis which will be a valuable and lasting contribution to the academic literature.'
Roland Dannreuther, Professor and Head of Politics and International Relations, University of Westminster
'This rich collection provides a thoughtful analysis of imperial rule and the meaning of sovereignty in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.'
William Fierman, Professor of Eurasian Studies, Indiana University

How does empire affect the route to successor sovereign state systems and the features of the sovereignty of these systems?

Empire matters for post-imperial outcomes, as is shown in this comparative study of the Middle East/ North Africa (MENA) and Central Asia. The imperial creation of states there explains several similarities in both regions' successor states, while differences in imperial heritages also partly account for the greater instability of the MENA states system and its lesser legitimacy.

As the imperial relation to an external metropole eventually came to an end, the social patterns and institutional practices forged in these relationships remained. Some remained only as traces; others, that endured in the transformation of empire, emerged as something else - a national sovereignty which should be seen as more than 'neo-colonialism' but less than 'total independence'. This challenges the view of an automatic linear progression from empire to sovereignty and indeed, suggests the two conditions can and do co-exist.

Sally N. Cummings is a Senior Lecturer in the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews. Raymond Hinnebusch is a Professor in the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews.

1. Introduction, Sally N. Cummings and Raymond Hinnebusch; Section One: Histories of Empire and After; 2. Russian Empires, Dominic Lieven; 3. The British and French empires in the Arab world: Some problems of colonial state-formation and its legacy, James McDougall; 4. Ottoman Legacies and Economic Sovereignty in Post-Imperial Anatolia, Syria and Iraq, Fred Lawson; Section Two: Paths to Sovereignty - Views from the Core and Periphery; 5. Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire and After, Ben Fortna; 6. Mandated Sovereignty? The Role of International Law in the Construction of Arab Statehood during and after Empire, Michelle Burgis; 7. Reluctant sovereigns? Central Asian states' path to independence, Mohira Suyarkulova; Section Three: Empire and Domestic Sovereignty; 8. The Middle East after Empire: Sovereignty and Institutions, Louise Fawcett; 9. Sovereignty after empire: the colonial roots of Central Asian authoritarianism, David Lewis; Section Four: Empire and Popular Sovereignty; 10. Culture, Colonialism and Sovereignty in Central Asia, Laura L. Adams; 11. Culture in the Middle East: the 'Western Question' and the sovereignty of post-imperial states in the Middle East, Morten Valbjørn; 12. Pathways of Islamist mobilisation against the state in the Middle East and Central Asia, Frederic Volpi; Section Five: Empire and External Sovereignty; 13. Empire and State Formation: Contrary tangents in Jordan and Syria, Raymond Hinnebusch; 14. Rentierism, Dependency and Sovereignty in Central Asia, Wojciech Ostrowski; 15. Tajikistan: from de facto colony to sovereign dependency, Muriel Atkin; Conclusions, Sally N. Cummings and Raymond Hinnebusch