It is not within the scope of this book to explain the rise and fall of clans as social and political organizations on a global scale. Yet some observations can be made here, so as to put the Central Asian states in a broader comparative framework. This chapter addresses two main issues. First, I ask whether this book's central argument, about the importance of clans and clan politics under the conditions discussed in earlier chapters, is unique to the three cases I have explored, or whether clans matter in other countries as well. While not a universal phenomenon, clans are certainly not a social organization unique to Central Asia, either historically or today. Where they have persisted, then, do they manifest themselves in ways similar to their role in Central Asia? Are the propositions of this book – about the political role of clan networks, their adaptability and persistence, the importance of clan pacts in promoting political stability, and the reemergence and deleterious effects of clans under transitional/new regimes – useful in explaining other cases in and beyond Central Asia?

Second, despite the persistence of clans in Central Asia, and despite the negative role that they generally play in contemporary Central Asian politics, I do not argue that clans always persist. This book does not accept the culturalist or “Orientalist” view that paints Central Asia as an unchanging, tribal, politically and economically backward society, in contrast with the developed, individualist, democratic, and capitalist West.