Russia And Eurasia At The Crossroads

A team of high-ranking members from the CIS administration and economic experts analyses the market-oriented transformations as well as specific features of the market evolving in the 12 states. Using a wide range of statistical data, the authors deal with industry, agriculture, the military-industrial complex, the scientific and social sphere, finance and investment, market infrastructure, and international trade. They develop a centrist concept for sustainable development and economic integration that offers the possibility of overcoming the current problems. Provides Western readers with an insider view of the present situation and a wealth of valuable statistical data.

Since antiquity, the vast Central Eurasian region of Xinjiang, or Eastern Turkestan, has stood at the crossroads of China, India, the Middle East, and Europe, playing a pivotal role in the social, cultural, and political histories of Asia and the world. Today, it comprises one-sixth of the territory of the People’s Republic of China and borders India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Mongolia. Eurasian Crossroads is an engaging and comprehensive account of Xinjiang’s history and people from earliest times to the present day. Drawing on primary sources in several Asian and European languages, James A. Millward surveys Xinjiang’s rich environmental and cultural heritage as well as its historical and contemporary geopolitical significance. Xinjiang was once the hub of the Silk Road and the conduit through which Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam entered China. It was also a fulcrum where Sinic, steppe nomadic, Tibetan, and Islamic imperial realms engaged and struggled. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the Han-dominated Chinese Communist Party has failed to include Xinjiang’s diverse indigenous Central Asian peoples. Its nationalistic visions have spurred domestic troubles that now affect the PRC’s foreign affairs and global ambitions. This revised and updated edition features new empirically grounded and balanced analysis of the latest developments in the region, focusing on the circumstances of the Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Xinjiang peoples in the face of policies implemented by the Chinese Communist Party.

The meaning of Russia's past is in a process of continuous deconstruction, reshaping and negotiation by various social and political groupings. Of the deluge of group memories which have broken loose, this collection focuses on several new voices which have never been heard in Russia in this way before: women, Tatars, Cossacks, as well as the voices of religious and provincial populations. In addition, the volume sheds light on the creation of a multi-party system which paved the way for the expression of particular views and interests and generated much of memory's concepts and language.

Belarus is located on the borders of Russia, Lithuania, Poland and the Ukraine - a position which, in combination with the ambitions of its president, points to its importance as a major geopolitical player. These essays focus on Belarus's place in the evolving European security environment.

"Eurasian Crossroads" is the first comprehensive history of Xinjiang, the vast central Eurasian region bordering India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Mongolia. Forming one-sixth of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Xinjiang stands at the crossroads between China, India, the Mediterranean, and Russia and has, since the Bronze Age, played a pivotal role in the social, cultural, and political development of Asia and the world. Xinjiang's population comprises Kazakhs, Kirghiz, and Uighurs, all Turkic Muslim peoples, as well as Han Chinese, and competing Chinese and Turkic nationalist visions boiled over into insurrection in 2009. This book provides the essential historical and cultural background to this fascinating part of the world. This new edition brings the story of the Uighurs up to date.

Azerbaijan is located at the crossroads between Europe and Asia. It has a highly strategic geographic position. The country was one of the corridors of the Silk Road used by traders. It was of great importance for the development of international trade. It was also the region's main artery, or «geopolitical pivot».

Being located between the Black and Caspian seas, Azerbaijan has always been the juncture of Eurasia—with a traditional reputation as a crossroads between the north-south and east-west transport corridors—and the traditional ground for competition between numerous regional and global players, using both soft and hard power. With its vast hydrocarbon energy reserves, Azerbaijan is a country of particular importance in the South Caucasus. The region’s complex geopolitics have immensely influenced Azerbaijan’s foreign policy strategy. With the dissolution of the USSR, Azerbaijan, as a new state with fragile security, found itself in a complicated situation surrounded by regional powers like Iran, Russia, and Turkey. The book is built around several major foreign policy issues faced by the Republic of Azerbaijan since it regained its independence in 1991. These major issues include the conflict with Armenia and related matters, the relationship with the West, as well as the complexities arising from its relationship with Russia and its ties to Muslim countries, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia.