Key Players And Regional Dynamics In Eurasia

Explores Russia's re-emergence as a major actor in Central Asia and the Caucasus - a re-emergence which is limited by the involvement and influence of external state and non-state actors, including China, the USA and foreign energy companies.

This volume studies the contemporary dynamics of conflict and cooperation within Eurasia with reference to interdependencies, partnerships and contestations on regional security, energy, democratic transition, and trade. Its key concern, in a broader sense, is, therefore, to understand the various outcomes of post-Soviet regional transformation and the intra- and inter-regional integrative or dismantling interaction making the regional countries hopeful or pessimistic about the future of their immediate and extended neighbourhood within contemporary Eurasia. The contributions here unfold the contemporary strategies of individual states with regards to cooperation, on the one hand, and the unavoidable conflicts in both bilateral relations and on a regional level, on the other. The chapters examine, with reference to central Eurasia, the root causes and the transitive character of conflict and cooperation, regional security dynamics and competing security complexes, and rising powers’ increasing involvement in the equation favouring cooperation via trade. As such, this book provides a better understanding of both the issues and the challenges the wider Eurasian region is currently experiencing.

The central objective of this edited volume is to help unlock a set of intriguing puzzles relating to changing power dynamics in Eurasia, a region that is critically important in the changing international security landscape.

As Eurasia and the adjacent territories become more important to the world, there is increasing interest from international powers, accompanied by attempts to give institutional form to traditional economic and security links within the region. This book includes a range of substantive work from scholars based in the region, offering contrasting perspectives on the process of Eurasian integration and its place in the world. Chapters consider economic, political, social and security developments, with notable studies of the major countries involved in the development of the Eurasian Economic Union. The work also examines the connections between the region and China, greater Asia and the European Union. It outlines the varying dynamics, with populations growing in Central Asia while at best stagnant elsewhere. The book discusses the increasing strategic significance of the region and explores how the new post-Soviet states are growing in national cohesion and political self-confidence. Above all, the book examines the concept of ’Eurasia’, outlining the debates about the concept and how various aspects of the legacy of ‘Eurasianism’ contribute to contemporary plans for integration. The book argues that although regional integration is very much a popular idea in our age, with the potential for economic benefits and increased international influence, in practice contemporary projects for Eurasian integration have been highly ambiguous and contested. Nevertheless, significant steps have been taken towards the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union. The book analyses developments to date, noting the achievements as well as the challenges.

Offering a comprehensive overview of the security dynamics of an under-analyzed region of the world, Central Asia and South Caucasus, this volume contains contributions from leading experts who examine policies of the major players in the region including Russia, China, India, Iran and Turkey. The volume incorporates thematic chapters which detail economic and security analyses in the post-September 11th era. It will appeal to both the academic and reference audiences and to the broader scholarly market in the disciplines of foreign policy, international security, Eurasian studies, and peace and conflict studies.

Taking a long view, and a wide perspective, this book by Japan's leading scholars on Asia and Eurasia provides a comprehensive and systematic comparison of the three greatest powers in the region and assesses how far the recent growth trajectories of these countries are sustainable in the long run. The book demonstrates the huge impact on the region of these countries. It examines the population, resource and economic basis for the countries' rise, considers political, social and cultural factors, and sets recent developments in a long historical context. Throughout, the different development paths of the three countries are compared and contrasted, and the new models for the future of the world order which they represent are analysed.

Bridging foreign policy analysis and international political economy, this volume offers a new look at the problem of agency in comparative regional integration studies. It examines evolving regional integration projects in the Eurasian space, defined as the former Soviet Union countries and China, and the impact that Russian foreign policy has had on integration in the region. By combining foreign policy studies with an examination of the international political economy of regionalism in Eurasia the author furthers our understanding of new regionalism, both theoretically and empirically.

This book builds on theory of authoritarian regionalism and is the first attempt to analyse the interaction of authoritarian regional organizations in Eurasia with their global and regional counterparts (NATO, EU, WTO, IMF etc.). It analyses three decades of the development of post-Soviet regional organizations prior to the tectonic geopolitical and security changes of 2022. Eurasian regional organizations created by Russia have been frequently perceived as attempts to establish ‘alternatives’ to the global governance institutions and to compete with other regional organizations like, for example, the European Union (EU). They are seen as a pronounced example of ‘authoritarian regionalism’, i.e., regional organizations established by non-democracies. The way they interact with global and regional institutions has, however, remained understudied. This book aims to close this gap. It places Eurasia within a global context and considers similar trends world-wide as well as outlines the agenda for future studies of global versus regional governance. The book sheds light on long-term strategies of Russia in Eurasia, in global economy and in world politics, and on the interaction between Russia and other post-Soviet states. With an extended introduction and conclusion, this book is an insightful resource for scholars; advanced students; and researchers of politics, international relations, and Eurasian area-studies. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Post-Communist Economies.