Books in the Central Asian Studies series

Contemporary Mongolia is often seen as one of the most open and democratic societies in Asia, undergoing remarkable post-socialist transformation. Based on original material from the former Soviet and Mongolian archives, this book presents a full length post-Cold War study on the history of the Mongolian People's Republic.

This book analyses the nexus of petroleum, security and governance in three semi-authoritarian states in the Caspian region, linking the analysis of domestic and international issues. It provides a timely and much needed analysis of the current impact of oil on the development of this crucial region.

Orientalism ¿ the idea that the standpoint of Western writers on the East greatly affected their writing about the East, the "Other" ¿ applied also in Russia and the Soviet Union, where the study of exotic peoples incorporated into the Russian Empire became a major academic industry and the standpoint of writers greatly affected what they wrote. Russian/Soviet orientalism had a particularly important impact during the creation of new Central Asian republics, and this book explores this influence, providing a rich picture of academic politics, and showing how academic cultural classification cemented political boundaries, often in unhelpful ways.

This study, written from the perspective of political sociology, represents a comparative examination of Central Asian communal and political organization before and after the tsarist conquest of the region. It covers Turkman, Kyrgyz, Kazakh and other tribal societies.

Offers insights into the objectives and practices of international aid workers in countries beset by rising poverty, drug trafficking, prostitution, and decaying education and health services. This book is suitable for scholars of post-soviet countries, and also to those interested in humanitarian and development aid worldwide.

The people of Greater Central Asia have been drawn into more direct and immediate contact since the Soviet collapse. This work examines the viewpoints and concerns of a selection of groups in terms of four issues: government repression, ethnic group perspectives, devices of mutual support, and informal grounds of authority and influence.

These essays provide an interdisciplinary approach to the study of contemporary Mongolia, ranging from industrialization, environmental policies, biotechnology and husbandry to descriptions of Mongolian flora and fauna.

Central Asian states have witnessed an intense revival of Islamic faith. Along with its moderate and traditional forms, radical and militant Islam has infiltrated communities of Muslims in Central Asia. This book examines the tendency of counterterrorism policies of the Central Asian states to grow more alike amid propensities for divergence.

The military played a pivotal role in the political development, state functions, foreign policy and the daily lives of the people in the Central Asian states from the early twentieth century. This book offers a study of the military institutions and the influence they had on the state and society.

Based on extensive field work and in-depth interviews in Kazakhstan, this book presents a comprehensive study of the issues of politics of oil and state-business relationships in Kazakhstan. It examines the ways in which the post-Soviet Kazakh regime has managed to sustain itself in power.

Drawing from ethnographic research, interviews, and archival materials, this book traces the development of national identity and statehood in Kazakhstan, focusing on the attempts to build a national state. It argues that Russification and Sovietization were not 'top-down' processes, and that they provide considerable scope for local initiatives.

Analyzes the nexus of petroleum, security and governance in three semi-authoritarian states in the Caspian region, linking the analysis of domestic and international issues. This book offers an analysis of the impact of oil on the development of this crucial region.

Offers an analysis of peace-building in Central Asia for inter-ethnic conflicts over water and land in the Ferghana Valley. This book sheds light on Western attempts to transform the post-socialist societies of Central Asia and provides empirical data on and insights into irrigation practices, and social institutions in the Ferghana Valley.

Post-Soviet, post-conflict Tajikistan is an under-studied and poorly understood case in conflict studies literature. This book charts the emergence of a legitimate order with properties of authority, sovereignty and livelihoods. It is suitable for academics working on Peace Studies, International Relations and Central Asian Studies.

The region of the Caucasus with its crises and instability, is at the focus of the world's attention. This book discusses the complexities and interplay among important forces at work in the region, including different brands of Islam, nationalisms, ethnic identities, local bureaucracies, Moscow's policies and influences from the outside.

Offers one of the first comprehensive studies of the activities of one of the most feared - but least understood - international Islamist organizations in post-Soviet Central Asia: Hizb ut-Tahrir, that is The Party of Islamic Liberation.

Providing empirical research on the everyday practise of Islam in post-Soviet Central Asia, this book gives an account of how Islam is understood and practised among ordinary Muslims in the region, focusing in particular on Uzbekistan. It also shows how Islam facilitates the pursuit of more modest goals of agency and belonging.

A case study book on Central Eurasia that covers the Caucasus and Central Asia. It contains topics that include: the varied types and sources of authoritarianism; political opposition and protest politics; predetermined outcomes of post-Soviet economic choices; and social and stability impacts of natural resource wealth.

Presents a comparative history of Islamic education in the Soviet Union and the post-Soviet countries. This book discusses the boom of Islamic education in the post-Soviet republics after 1991. It describes specific regional traditions of Islamic learning and to the teachers' affiliations with Islamic legal schools and Sufi brotherhoods.

A history in English of the East Syriac Church of the East. It covers the periods of the Sassanians, Arabs, Mongols, Ottomans, the 20th century, and informs about the Syriac, Iranian and Chinese literature of this unique and almost forgotten part of Christendom.

Presents a history of the Northwest Caucasus. This book examines interethnic relations and demographic changes that have occurred, shedding light on how the policies of the Ottoman Empire, Crimean Khanate, and Russia have affected the peoples living in the region and their socio-political situation.

Throughout the nineteenth century, Central Asia was the scene of periodic confrontations between Britain and Russia. This title provides a 'history of thought' of this crucial period in Central Asia by examining of the strategic thinking and diplomatic discourse of the most intense decades of the confrontation.

Based on extensive fieldwork in the Afghan and Tajik Badakhshan borderlands, this book shows how implantation of formal institutional border structures can be counterproductive. This is because it can marginalise local leaders and alienate the local population, thereby increasing overall instability. The book shows how, in this particular borderland, trafficking, corrupt border personnel, and imperfect new institutional arrangements, contributed to a complex mix of oppression and resistance, benefitting illicit traders and hindering humanitarian work.