Understanding Central Asia: Politics and Contested Transformations

by Cummings; Sally N.

• ISBN13: 9780415297035
• ISBN10: 0415297036
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2012-03-08
• Publisher: RoutledgeCurzon

Summary

This text introduces students to the history, politics and international relations of Central Asia. The book explores both the domestic and foreign politics of the five independent states of post-Soviet Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The book is arranged thematically and assumes very little prior knowledge. It covers all the key issues facing the region, such as: history, state and nation-building, the role of Islam, economic and political reform, relations with the South, particularly Afghanistan, India & Pakistan, relations with Russia and the geopolitical role of Central Asia post-September 11th.

Author Biography

Sally N. Cummings teaches in the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, UK, where she is also Founding Director of the Institute of Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Caucasus Studies. Her publications include Sovereignty After Empire (co-ed., 2011); Symbolism and Power in Central Asia (ed., Routledge 2010); Kazakhstan (2005) and Oil, Transition and Security in Central Asia (ed., Routledge 2003).

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Legacies: Russian Colonisation and Soviet Rule

Religion, Ethnicity and Nation-Building

Political Reform: Khans and Communists

Economic Reform: Winners and Losers

Coping with Instability?

Russia in Central Asia

Intra-Central Asia and Relations with the South

The Geopolitical Conceptualisation of Central Asia

Caspian Oil and Gas: Black Gold

Conclusion

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