historical essays

The emergence of Muslim republics has been part of a larger transformation experienced by the Middle East in the 1990s. The main purpose of this volume is to examine the impact of the transformation on the Middle East, especially Turkey and Iran.

This set includes all four volumes of the critically acclaimed History of Central Asia series. The epic plains and arid deserts of Central Asia have witnessed some of the greatest migrations, as well as many of the most transformative developments, in the history of civilization. Christoph Baumer's ambitious four-volume treatment of the region charts the 3000-year drama of Scythians and Sarmatians; Soviets and transcontinental Silk Roads; trade routes and the transmission of ideas across the steppes; and the breathless and brutal conquests of Alexander the Great and Chinghiz Khan. Masterfully interweaving the stories of individuals and peoples, the author's engaging prose is richly augmented throughout by colour photographs taken on his own travels. This set includes The Age of the Steppe Warriors (Volume 1), The Age of the Silk Roads (Volume 2), The Age of Islam and the Mongols (Volume 3) and The Age of Decline and Revival (Volume 4)

With fresh and provocative insights into the everyday reality of politics in post-Soviet Central Asia, this volume moves beyond commonplaces about strong and weak states to ask critical questions about how democracy, authority, and justice are understood in this important region. In conversation with current theories of state power, the contributions draw on extensive ethnographic research in settings that range from the local to the transnational, the mundane to the spectacular, to provide a unique perspective on how politics is performed in everyday life.

This volume offers an in-depth investigation of the role of new media in the political, social and cultural life in the region of Europe-Asia. By focusing on new media, which is understood primarily as internet-enabled networked social practice, the book puts forward a political and cultural redefinition of the region which is determined by the recognition of the diversity of new media uses in the countries included in the study. This book focuses on the period prior to the advent of ‘world internet revolutions’, and it registers the region at its pivotal moment—at the time of its entry into the post-broadcast era. Does the Internet aid democratisation or it conditioned by socio-political norms? Has the Internet changed politics or has it had to fit existing political structures? Has the use of digital technologies revolutionized election campaigns? How is hyperlinked society different from society prior to the advent of the web? How do ordinary people actually use the Internet. These and other pressing questions – crucial to understanding the post-socialist world – are investigated in the current volume. This book was published as a special issue of Europe-Asia Studies.

With the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991, its fifteen constituent republics suddenly found themselves sovereign states. Among the new countries are the five republics of Central Asia - Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan - that comprise the region to the south of the great Russian heartland. Each of these countries now faces the task of creating its own foreign policy: with one another, with its former imperial ruler to the north, with the Islamic countries to the south, and with the West. In Central Asia and the World, eight experts on the region address the historic power struggles between east and west and north and south that have shaped the region and the prognosis for success in overcoming a turbulent past and an uncertain, divided present. In addition to its continuing strong ties to Russia, Central-Asia's links with its southern neighbors and the potential role of Islam are also examined. The authors advance the case that these countries are critical to the West insofar as they affect Western interests in Russia and the Middle East. The ongoing civil war in Tajikistan and Central Asia's relationship with China are also addressed. The first book to examine the complex issues facing the region Central Asia and the World provides a comprehensive overview of the developing foreign policies of these five new countries, including a look at the internal political, economic, and military issues confronting each country.

The five central Asian States of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan stand at the crossroads of world civilization. Influenced by South Asia, Iran, China and Russia, this region which has recently burst onto the world stage once again, guards a distinct identity. This collection by established experts on the area covers the dramatic Soviet interventions of the early twentieth century, and details the role of ethnicity and the contribution made by Islamic impulses in the process of building the modern nation states.

Natural resource and environmental conflicts have long been issues confronting human societies. This case-based examination of a wide range of natural resource disputes exposes readers to many contemporary examples that offer reasons for both hope and concern. The Rwandan genocide, the Sudanese civil war, and perpetual instability in the Middle East and Africa: each of these crises have arguably been instigated and maintained by natural resource disputes. China has undertaken a Herculean task to plant hundreds of millions of trees along its margins in an effort to save Beijing from crippling dust storms and halt the expansion of the Gobi desert. Will it work, and is it worth it? These and many other cases of conflict stemming from natural resource or environmental concerns are explained and debated in this up-to-date examination of contemporary and ongoing topics. The book examines conflicts over precious resources and minerals, such as diamonds, oil, water, and fisheries, as well as the pursuit of lesser-known minerals like Coltan and other "rare earth elements"—important resources in our technological age—in remote locations such as Greenland and the Congo. Each topic contains an overview and two position essays from different authors, thereby providing the reader with highly informative and balanced perspectives. Reference entries accompany each topic as well, helping students to better understand each issue. As the world hurtles into the 21st century, these natural resource issues are becoming increasingly important, with all global citizens having a significant stake in how these conflicts arise and play out.

`Simply a great work of reference. Future scholars will wonder how anybody managed without the Wellesley Index. It will quietly change the whole nature of Victorian studies.' Christopher Ricks, New Statesman `It is now impossible to think of Victorian literary and historical studies without the benefit of it ... this is a very remarkable achievement indeed ... the complete set will be a monument to the Houghtons foresight, pertinacity and skill.' TLS