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Eurasian Regionalism: The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

to pursue its own agenda relatively comfortably without the threat of external pressure? Furthermore, how did this relate to other agencies at the time, particularly those also charged with implementing economic reforms? Although Herrera demonstrates Goskomstat’s relative autonomy, the importance of this particular variable is somewhat understated. If conditional norms in Goskomstat were contingent on the divergence between communist and capitalist economic structures then it is natural to assume that other actors would hold similar views as to the appropriate systems or rules mandated by the shift towards a capitalist economy. Given the slow progress in the implementation of many reforms in the early 1990s, Goskomstat’s autonomy emerges as a crucial factor in explaining the success of SNA implementation. To the extent that this is the case, it would have been useful to have the emergence and scope of Goskomstat’s autonomy fleshed out in greater detail, and with the same level of theoretical rigour which Herrera has accorded the other concepts addressed in the study. The author admits in the preface that the comparative study of national accounts may not be the most exciting avenue for political scientists, yet it is a testament to her attention to detail and enthusiasm for solving the puzzle that the text is thoroughly engaging throughout. As it happens, one of the principal strengths of the book is its tightly circumscribed focus; treating the politics of national accounts as a distinct area of inquiry affords the analysis the potential for immense depth, and in this regard the study does not disappoint. Herrera skilfully ties together many parallel developments in the history and evolution of both the organisations and systems under consideration, taking the time to relate each and every important event to the theories implicitly under scrutiny. The constant movement back-and-forth between empirics and explanation in the text makes this book both an interesting historical study and an important theoretical intervention into constructivist political economy. The exemplary blend of history and theory allows for a detailed look at the mechanisms underpinning the adoption of SNA and does much to establish the validity of Herrera’s complex argument. Overall, the text is novel, sophisticated and well written. The theoretical innovations contained within—especially the accounts of ‘conditional norms’ and ‘identity’—should endear the text to a broad political science readership, although scholars working on post-Soviet politics and the political economy of transition will find the text particularly insightful.