Globalizing Central Asia

In this global era, Central Asia must be understood in both geo-economic and geopolitical terms. The region's natural resources compel the attention of rivalrous great powers and ambitious internal factions. The local regimes are caught between the need for international collaborations to valorize these riches and the need to maintain control over them in the interest of state sovereignty. Russia and China dominate the horizon, with other global players close behind; meanwhile, neighboring countries are fractious and unstable with real potential for contagion. This pathbreaking introduction to Central Asia in contemporary international economic and political context answers the needs of both academic and professional audiences and is suitable for course adoption.

Reflecting on almost three decades of postsocialist transformations, the second edition of Globalization on the Margins explores continuities and changes in Central Asian education development since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, with a particular focus on the developments that took place since the production of the first edition in 2011. Rather than viewing these transformations in isolation, the authors place their analyses within the global context by reflecting on the interaction between Soviet legacies and global education reform pressures in the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. This new edition, in addition to a revised introduction and a newly added conclusion, consists of four thematic sections, each reflecting a key theme in the educational life of the Central Asian states. These thematic sections, introduction and conclusion collectively update our understanding of the recent developments and challenges in education of the five Central Asian states. They, however, go beyond mere information update, so as to complicate, re-engage, re-form and re-define the margins, taking up ‘margins’ a conceptual, geographic, cultural, and geo-political construct. Notwithstanding the diversity of local and international authors, variety of theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, and conceptual lenses, the essays reveal the complexity and uncertainty of the post-socialist education transformations. Instead of portraying the transition process as the influx of Western ideas into the region, Globalization on the Margins provides new lenses to critically example education as a contested field of diverse perspectives, competing forces, and multidirectional flow of ideas, concepts, and reforms in Central Asia. ENDORSEMENTS: "Hindsight famously brings clarity. And, much of what happened after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union has now been correctly deeded over to historians. Nonetheless, we ignore that history at our peril. The contributors to this volume show that carefully textured and historically attuned education research generates deep insights into ongoing transformations and the political, cultural, social and economic structures, relations, and practices that do the work of producing margins and centers in the first place." ~ Noah W. Sobe, Loyola University Chicago "Globalization on the margins and at the epicentre of the battles of the Great Powers. Two excellent educators, Sarfaroz Niyozov and Iveta Silova, compiled a timely and long-awaited scholarly work based on empirical research in societies, which had similar history close to three decades ago. All the contributors are prolific educators who know the education system from within and without, who either hailed from the region or have spent a considerable amount of time to know the systems well. The book contains remarkable stories of education through the ups and downs of historical evolution. It is a must-read primer for anyone interested in learning about high quality research in the field of education in Central Asia. It is a huge contribution to educational research with an impact on research and teaching for years to come." ~ Duishon Shamatov, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan "The challenge of moving Central Asia from the borders of the Soviet Empire to the world’s center is the focus of the discussions in ‘Globalization on the Margins.’ The transition to the Western models of education was happening in the context of major paradigm shift, which entire humanity was experiencing and which could be described as the arrival of the new post-industrial civilization. During this process, Central Asian countries have been pushed to the margins, because their contribution to the wealth of the new world know-how was much less pronounced than that of their Western neighbours. Therefore, investment into the research that contributes to local knowledge production seems a natural solution to the problem. All the contributors to this book have a vast experience in the region and many of their observations are thought provoking. This is a very insightful and much needed book." ~ Elena Lenskaya, Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences, Russia

Central Asia's new states have been buffeted by financial ill winds from East Asia and Russia and by Islamic revolutionary movements from the south. In the context of widespread and deepening impoverishment, endemic corruption, gaping inequalities, and external pressures to undertake difficult reforms, economic crisis threatens to expand into profoundly destabilizing social and political crises as well.This volume analyzes the geopolitical and macroeconomic situation of Central Asia, local policy responses to the current crisis, and alternative scenarios for the foreseeable future. It devotes particular attention to Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Beyond the immediate case, the book focuses on policy measures and institutional improvements that could most directly impact the capacity of economies in the region to adapt to the globalization process.

India and Central Asia: Geopolitics, Economy and Culture is a collection of essays on India's relations with the Central Asian states--Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan--from various perspectives. Trade and cultural relations have flourished between the people of India and Central Asia, particularly along the Silk Route, since ancient times. Under colonial rule, many passages from India to Central Asia came into use. However, with the partition of the Indian subcontinent and the consequent hostility between India and Pakistan, and the emergence of Communist China, India's direct link to the Central Asian region was cut off. The present volume makes out a case for the revival of the connectivity between India and the Central Asian states as there is a great potential in this linkage. This collection of essays explores the shared values of Central Asia and India and the common approach of a non-conflict model of international relations. The Central Asian countries and India could collaborate in sharing natural resources like minerals and the transmission of oil and gas, in which Central Asia abounds, leading to a shared security and prosperity, and cultural exchanges.

Since the start of the 1990s, Central Asia has been the main purveyor of migrants in the post-Soviet space. These massive migrations due to social upheavals over the last twenty years impact issues of governance; patterns of social adaptation; individual and collective identities; and gender relations in Central Asia. This volume raises the importance of internal migrations, those at a regional, intra-Central Asian, level, labor migrations to Russia, and carries us as far away to the Uzbek migrants based in Istanbul, New York, or Seoul, as well as to the young women of Tashkent who head to Germany or France, and to the Germans, Greeks, and Jews of Central Asia who have returned to their “ethnic homelands”. Contributors include Aida Aaly Alimbaeva, Stéphanie Belouin, Adeline Braux, Asel Dolotkeldieva, Olivier Ferrando, Sophie Hohmann, Nafisa Khusenova, Erica Marat, Sophie Massot, Saodat Olimova, Sébastien Peyrouse, Luisa Piart, Madeleine Reeves, Elena Sadovskaya.

"Recently the relatively new geopolitical term "Central Eurasia" has been gaining currency. It has been normally applied to the eight states of the Central Caucasus (often referred to as South Caucasus) and Central Asia, which are treated as a single geopolitical space. However, this is not completely correct from the geopolitical viewpoint since it still reflects the Russian idea of this geopolitical expanse. The purpose of this study is to re-examine some aspects of the geopolitical-economic understanding of the region that encompasses the above-mentioned countries through a descriptive approach, that is, irrespective of the interests that motivate the world and other countries in this region"--Page 6.

This volume examines the Eurasian engagement with geographies of globalisation through an understanding of the intersection of space and place in Eurasia, Eurasian encounters with globalisation in terms of shifting spheres in politics, economics and culture, levels of integration and the intricate patterns of roads and routes. It also takes note of challenges encountered by social groups and communities in the face of globalising tendencies. The role of emerging alternatives within the region and community partnerships in Eurasia has also been addressed. Written by Eurasian scholars and others working on the region, it takes note of the formal and informal linkages between local communities and the larger global arena of which they are a part. The Eurasian context and the changing contours of Eurasia’s globalised space have been addressed in this book. The book would be of value to scholars and practitioners engaged in policy debates and area studies.

A penetrating look into the unrecognized and unregulated links between autocratic regimes in Central Asia and centers of power and wealth throughout the West Weak, corrupt, and politically unstable, the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are dismissed as isolated and irrelevant to the outside world. But are they? This hard-hitting book argues that Central Asia is in reality a globalization leader with extensive involvement in economics, politics and security dynamics beyond its borders. Yet Central Asia’s international activities are mostly hidden from view, with disturbing implications for world security. Based on years of research and involvement in the region, Alexander Cooley and John Heathershaw reveal how business networks, elite bank accounts, overseas courts, third-party brokers, and Western lawyers connect Central Asia’s supposedly isolated leaders with global power centers. The authors also uncover widespread Western participation in money laundering, bribery, foreign lobbying by autocratic governments, and the exploiting of legal loopholes within Central Asia. Riveting and important, this book exposes the global connections of a troubled region that must no longer be ignored.