This book examines, comprehensively, the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, the regional organisation which consists of China, Russia and most of the Central Asian countries. It charts the development of the Organisation from the establishment of its precursor, the Shanghai Five, in 1996, through its own foundation in 2001 to the present. It considers the foreign policy of China and of the other member states, showing how the interests and power of the member states determine the Organisation’s institutions, functional development and relations with non-members. It explores the Organisation’s activities in the fields of politics and security co-operation, economic and energy co-operation, and in culture and education, and concludes with a discussion of how the Organisation is likely to develop in future. Throughout, the book sets the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation in the context of China’s overall strategy towards Central Asia.

This book explains Central Asia's different perceptive, especially in the economic, security, and energy fields. The book also clarifies the influence of America, Russia, Europe, and China on Central Asian countries. Central Asia and international players' current association depends on geographic, political, economic, and security factors. Central Asia sits at the center of the Asian continent, a region rich in history and culture. This region benefits from a mixture of national identities that have been developed carefully for many decades. Central Asia consists of five former Soviet nations, as it is currently defined: Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. This book discusses several issues involves in Central Asia.

Russia is the world's biggest hydrocarbon producer. China is one of the world's largest and fastest-growing energy markets. The two are neighbours. Yet their energy relationship is very thin. Instead, they compete for vast and largely unexplored Central Asian resources. As Kazakh oil and Turkmen gas start flowing to China, Russia's traditional dominance in the region is diminishing. However, the Central Asian states are not passive pawns in a new 'great game'. The EU and the US can help these countries to turn the new energy geopolitics to their advantage.

Located in the center of Asia with one of the largest land frontiers in the world and 14 neighbors whose dispositions could not easily be predicted, China has long been obsessed with security. In this handbook, an internationally renowned team of contributors provide a comprehensive and systematic analysis of contemporary thinking about Chinese national security. Chapters cover the PRC's historical, ideological and doctrinal heritage related to security, its security arrangements and policies targeting key regions and nations of the world, the security aspects of the PRC's ground, air, sea, space and cyber forces, as well as the changing and expanding definition and scope of China's security theory and practice.

The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Central Asia offers the first comprehensive, cross-disciplinary overview of key issues in Central Asian studies. The 30 chapters by leading and emerging scholars summarise major findings in the field and highlight long-term trends, recent observations and future developments in the region. The handbook features case studies of all five Central Asian republics and is organised thematically in seven sections: History Politics Geography International Relations Political Economy Society and Culture Religion An essential cross-disciplinary reference work, the handbook offers an accessible and easyto- understand guide to the core issues permeating the region to enable readers to grasp the fundamental challenges, transformations and themes in contemporary Central Asia. It will be of interest to researchers, academics and students of the region and those working in the field of Area Studies, History, Anthropology, Politics and International Relations. Chapter 23 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Central Asia and Xinjiang, the far northwestern province of China, are of increasing international importance. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the region’s significance historically, of the contemporary international forces which affect the region, and of current political, economic and cultural developments.

China’s need for energy has become a driving factor in contemporary world politics and a precondition for sustaining China’s continuing high economic growth. This book argues that a US presence in Central Asia is necessary for securing the energy provision of China from the region.

This volume examines the prominent role of China in global politics and the relevance of the 'new regionalism' paradigm to China's international outreach. It provides a comprehensive and critical assessment of China's impact on the global politics of regionalization, offers a novel application of analytical models, investigates the aspects of the Chinese practice of regionalization that set it apart, and demonstrates China's transformative potential in international life. Addressing the need to 're-Orient' the research and policy agenda of international relations, this comprehensive study demonstrates both the lack of language to engage with existing norms and standards and the difficulty of applying them to an evaluation of the global politics of China's 'non-Western' international agency.

China's relationship with the developing world is a fundamental part of its larger foreign policy strategy. Sweeping changes both within and outside of China and the transformation of geopolitics since the end of the cold war have prompted Beijing to reevaluate its strategies and objectives in regard to emerging nations.Featuring contributions by recognized experts, this is the first full-length treatment of China's relationship with the developing world in nearly two decades. Section one provides a general overview and framework of analysis for this important aspect of Chinese policy. The chapters in the second part of the book systematically examine China's relationships with Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Latin America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. The book concludes with a look into the future of Chinese foreign policy.

Despite its geostrategic importance and its easier accessibility since the dissolvent of the Soviet Union, Central Asia has nevertheless remained a white spot on the map of western scholarship and public awareness. Bringing together papers presented at the VII ESCAS-Conference, this volume aims to shed light on the historical, political, cultural and socio-economic development of this region. Scholars from within and outside Central Asia discuss a wide range of topics, covering historical processes and events on the one hand and present developments of regional and global concern on the other.