Storm Over the Caucasus: In the Wake of Independence

by Leeuw,Charles van der

• ISBN13: 9780700711161
• ISBN10: 0700711163
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-10-08
• Publisher: RoutledgeCurzon

Summary

This book uses eyewitness accounts and historical records to provide a picture of the turbulent years immediately following perestroika and the independence of the Caucasian nations during the early nineties. The Caucasus has been known in recent years as a source of intense conflict and strategic manoeuvring on the part of the superpowers. It has also become the gateway for the rest of the world to the economic boom of Central Asia's immense gas and oil reserves. In this volume, items including international diplomatic and (oil) business schemes, refugees left to their fate, terrorism, political fanaticism, drugs-related crime, the Mafia and other side-effects of the armed conflicts are stripped of their myths and presented according to their true impact.

Table of Contents

Map of peoples of the Caucasus
Acknowledgements
Map of the Caucasus
Introduction	p. 1
Land of fire, city of winds	p. 5
From gulag to independence	p. 23
Black gold, vile poison	p. 43
Rotting on the plains	p. 55
Karabakh: the fatal apple of discord	p. 67
The long-lost empire	p. 87
Hushed-up terror	p. 101
Playing poker on Vagramian Boulevard	p. 115
The cross, the sword and the ram's horn	p. 125
Soviet frustrations and the Gamsakhurdia roadshow	p. 145
War in the mini-empire	p. 161
Clearing up the mess with Shervardnadze	p. 181
The Caucasus connection	p. 191
References	p. 203
Index	p. 205
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