Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, conflict in the former USSR has been a key concern in international security. This book fills a gap in the literature on violent conflict, evaluating a region that contains all the modern ingredients for instability and aggression. Bringing together leading experts on war and security, the book addresses current debates in international relations about power, interests, globalisation and the politics of identity as major drivers of contemporary war. Incidents such as the 2008 Russo-Georgian conflict, the wars in Chechnya, and Russia's struggles over national identity and resources with former communist states are all thoroughly examined. With new issues like energy security, terrorism and transnational crime, and older tensions between East and West threatening to deepen once more, this is an important contribution to the international security literature.

In a truly contemporary analysis of Moscow′s relations with its neighbors and other strategic international actors, Gvosdev and Marsh use a comprehensive vectors approach, dividing the world into eight geographic zones. Each vector chapter looks at the dynamics of key bilateral relationships while highlighting major topical issues—oil and energy, defense policy, economic policy, the role of international institutions, and the impact of major interest groups or influencers—demonstrating that Russia formulates multiple, sometimes contrasting, foreign policies. Providing rich historical context as well as exposure to the scholarly literature, the authors offer an incisive look at how and why Russia partners with some states while it counter-balances others.

The Sino-Russian relationship has experienced several permutations in recent decades as both states have undergone radical domestic changes, including the end of Soviet communism and the abandonment of Maoism. This volume brings together scholars to address the current status of Sino-Russian relations in the political, military, energy and trade sectors. In this comprehensive new volume, authors offer a detailed account on the both the historical context and current status of relations between Russia and China and the geo-political realignments in Eurasia. This analysis of the evolving relationship addresses global strategy, energy politics, national security, human security, and Central Asian links. Individual chapters examine key issues such as China’s economic ascendancy, military relations, the geostrategic position of Mongolia, Japan’s views and historical background. With authors representing a broad range of current active experts and researchers working in Europe, the US, Central Asia, China and Japan, this book offers a long-term and in-depth analysis of the relations and potential developments in both bilateral and international relations. This work will be of great interest to scholars of international relations, Asian security, and the Eurasian region.

This book looks at how China and India's growing interests in Central Asia disrupt the traditional Russia-U.S. 'Great Game' at the heart of the old continent. In the years to come, both Asian powers are looking to redeploy their rivalry on the Central Asian and Afghan theatres on a geopolitical, but also political and economic level.

This book analyzes the strategies that different states have used to engage a rising India, their successes and failures, as well as India's responses. This analysis of the foreign relations of a key rising power, and comparative study of engagement strategies, casts light on the changing nature of Indian foreign policy.

With renewed American involvement in Afghanistan, Pakistan's growing fragility, and China's rise in power in the post-Soviet space, Central Asia-South Asia relations have become central to understanding the future of the Eurasian continent. Mapping Central Asia identifies the trends, attitudes, and ideas that are key to structuring the Central Asia-South Asia axis in the coming decade. Structured in three parts, the book skillfully guides us through the importance of the historical links between the Indian sub-continent and Central Asia, the regional and global context in which the developing of closer relations between India and Central Asia has presented itself since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the precise domains of Indo-Central Asian cooperation, and studies three conflict zones that frame Indo-Central Asian relations: the Kashmir question; the situation in Afghanistan; and fear of destabilization in Xinjiang. The international line-up of established scholars convincingly demonstrate the fundamental necessity to define the Indian approach on these issues and provide cutting-edge insights on the tools needed to understand the solutions for the decade to come.

With renewed American involvement in Afghanistan, Pakistan's growing fragility, and China's rise in power in the post-Soviet space, Central Asia-South Asia relations have become central to understanding the future of the Eurasian continent. Mapping Centra