CENTRAL ASIA AS VIEWED BY CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL ANALYSTS (2011-2012)
Abstract
Not so long ago it seemed that by the end of the 2000s interest in Central Asia from abroad had exhausted itself and there was nothing new to add to what had already been writ-ten about the region. The West, which paid the greatest attention to the region due to the presence of America and NATO in Afghanistan, appeared to have lost its geopolitical interest in Central Asia. Washington unofficially recognized Russia’s “legitimate” interests in the region as part of the reset policy, probably in the hope that Moscow’s influence would be trimmed by China’s in-creasing presence in the same region.
Now, however, everything has dramatically changed: on the one hand, the intention of Russia (led once more by Vladimir Putin, the “integrator of the post-Soviet expanse”) to expedite the establishment of a Eurasian Union has given the West a scare. While on the other, Western strategists are frowning at China’s mounting in-fluence in Central Asia. The Iranian, Indian, and Afghan factors are also elements to be reckoned with in the geopolitical struggle around the region. In short, the rivalry has in no way fizzled out, instead it is entering a new phase.
This is amply confirmed by the works an-alyzed below; their authors do not limit them- selves to the geopolitics, security, and international status of Central Asia; they scrutinize the domestic problems and political and socioeconomic development of the region’s individual countries.
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References
This article continues our earlier surveys of what has been written about Central Asia abroad (see: M. Laumulin,M. Augan, “Central Asia as Viewed by Contemporary Political Analysts,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, Volume 11,Issue 1, 2010, pp. 80-96; M. Laumulin, “Central Asia as Viewed by Contemporary Political Analysts,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, Volume 11, Issue 3, 2010, pp. 109-125).
See: Mapping Central Asia. Indian Perceptions and Strategies, ed. by M. Laruelle, S. Peyrouse, Ashgate, Farnham,2011, 248 pp.
See: Religion and Security in South and Central Asia, ed. by K. Warikoo, Routledge, London, New York, 2011,217 pp.
See: N. Swanström, China and Greater Central Asia: New Frontiers? Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, Washington, D.C., 2011, 84 pp.
See: Ferghana Valley. The Heart of Central Asia, ed. by S.F. Starr, M.E. Sharpe, Armonk, New York, London, 2011,XX+442 pp.
See: Central Asia: Decay and Decline. Asia Report N°201, 3 February, 2011, ICG, Bishkek/Brussels, 2011, III+42 pp.
See: Ph. Shishkin, Central Asia’s Crisis of Governance, Asia Society, Washington, D.C., 2012, 40 pp.
See: E. McGlinchey, Chaos, Violence, Dynasty. Politics and Islam in Central Asia, Pittsburgh University Press,Pittsburgh (Pa), 2011, XIV+216 pp.
See: J. Engvall, Flirting with State Failure: Power and Politics in Kyrgyzstan since Independence, A Joint Trans-atlantic Research and Policy Center, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, Washington, D.C., 2011,101 pp.
See: S. Peyrouse, Turkmenistan. Strategies of Power, Dilemmas of Development, M.E. Sharpe, Armonk, New York,2012, 248 pp.
See: S. Peyrouse, Turkménistan. Un destin au carrefour des empires, Edition Belin, Paris, 2007, 184 pp.
See: C. Salhani, Islam without a Veil. Kazakhstan’s Path of Moderation, Potomac Books, Washington, D.C., 2011,XV+203 pp.
See: J. Aitken, Kazakhstan. Surprises and Stereotypes. After 20 Years of Independence, Continuum, London, New York, 2012, 200 pp.; idem., Nazarbayev and the Making of Kazakhstan, Continuum, London, New York, 2009. IX+256 pp.
See: Pyatnadtsat let, kotorye izmenili Tsentralnuiu Aziiu (1991-2006), TsSPI, Moscow, 2006, 270 pp; Gody, ko-torye izmenili Tsentralnuiu Aziiu, TsSPI-IV RAN, Moscow, 2009, 331 pp.
See: Politichesky protsess v Tsentralnoy Asii: rezultaty, problemy, perspektivy, IV RAS/TsSPI, Moscow, 2011, 406 pp.
See: Vneshnepoliticheskiy protsess v stranakh Vostoka, ed. by Prof. D.V. Streltsov, Aspekt Press, Moscow, 2011,336 pp.
See: Aziatskie energeticheskie stsenarii 2030, ed. by S.V. Zhukov, Magistr, Moscow, 2012, 336 pp.
See: Tsentralnaia Azia segodnia: vyzovy i ugrozy, ed. by Prof. K.L. Syroezhkin, KISI, Almaty, 2011, 456 pp.
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