The 9/11 attacks, the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, and the oil boom of recent years have greatly increased the strategic importance of resource-rich Central Asia, making an understanding of its economic--and therefore political--prospects more important than ever. In The Central Asian Economies Since Independence, Richard Pomfret provides a concise and up-to-date analysis of the huge changes undergone by the economies of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The book assesses the economic prospects of each country, and the likelihood that economic conditions will spur major political changes. With independent chapters on each country, and chapters analyzing their comparative economic performance, the book highlights similarities and differences. Facing common problems caused by the breakdown of Soviet economic relations and the hyperinflation of the early 1990s, these countries have taken widely divergent paths in the transition from Soviet central planning to more market-based economies. The book ends in 2005 with the bloodless Kyrgyz revolution and the violence in Uzbekistan, which signaled the end of the region's political continuity. Throughout the book, Pomfret emphasizes the economic forces that foster political instability--from Kazakhstan's resource boom and Turkmenistan's lack of reform to Tajikistan's abject poverty.

An insightful and thorough exploration of the economies of Asia In Asian Economies: History, Institutions and Structure, seasoned economist and professor Jamus Jerome Lim provides a comprehensive discussion and incisive analysis of the economies of Asia. In addition to discussing the sharp contrasts between the region’s three major economies—China, India, and Japan—Lim also provides an overview of the rise of the Dragon economies of the East, to the resource-rich economies of the West. The book adopts a unique approach to the treatment of these economies, weaving in aspects of these countries’ economic geography and history, their idiosyncratic institutions and structures, along with providing a comparative and international perspective. The book offers: Careful emphasis on the geographic preconditions and enduring legacy of economic history on the contemporary and future prospects of each of the countries and regions discussed within Examinations of the importance of the political and economic institutions, as well as market and industrial structures, in shaping the trajectories of the economies considered in the book Discussions of the dramatic differences and similarities between the Asian economies, as well as how these differences shape these economies’ interactions with the rest of the world Perfect for undergraduate and graduate students of economics, Asian Economies will also earn a place on the bookshelves of business and finance professionals seeking to understand the economies of the world’s most diverse and dynamic region.

In this global era, Central Asia must be understood in both geo-economic and geopolitical terms. The region's natural resources compel the attention of rivalrous great powers and ambitious internal factions. The local regimes are caught between the need for international collaborations to valorize these riches and the need to maintain control over them in the interest of state sovereignty. Russia and China dominate the horizon, with other global players close behind; meanwhile, neighboring countries are fractious and unstable with real potential for contagion. This pathbreaking introduction to Central Asia in contemporary international economic and political context answers the needs of both academic and professional audiences and is suitable for course adoption.

The countries of Central Asia are increasingly the focus of intense international attention due to their geopolitical and economic importance as well as their unsettled transition processes. The region faced enormous challenges when the Soviet Union disintegrated, and this book focuses on the reforms of the institutional environment that have been largely neglected. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the book explores key aspects of institution building as well as economic and political governance in Central Asia. Contributors from a variety of disciplines, such as economics, political economy, political science, sociology, law, and ethnology, investigate the challenges of institutional transition in a non-democratic region. The book discusses how the lack of effective institution building as well as rule enforcement in the economic and political realms represents one of the key weaknesses and drawbacks of transition, and goes on to look at how crafting market institutions will be of utmost importance in the years ahead. Making an important contribution to understanding of political-economic developments in Central Asia, this book is of interest to students and scholars of political economy, comparative economics, development studies and Central Asian studies.

Greater Central Asia encompasses a vast area that includes deserts, natural grasslands, steppes, shrublands and alpine regions. Many of these land types are degraded and productivity is falling at a time when human populations and livestock inventories are on the rise. Ecosystem stability and biodiversity are under threat and there is an urgent need to develop more sustainable land management regimes. This book uses an integrated regional approach to provide a comprehensive exploration of sustainable land development in Central Asia. An interdisciplinary team of experts analyses the economic, ecological, sociological, technological and political factors surrounding sustainable land and water management in the region, sharing potential problems and solutions. As international concern about desertification grows, the book concludes by asking how the region is likely to develop in the future. This book will be of value to scholars, students, policy makers and NGOs with an interest in sustainable development in Central Asia.

The vast majority of the world's poorest households depend on farming for their livelihood. During the 1960s and 1970s, most developing countries imposed pro-urban and anti-agricultural policies, while many high-income countries restricted agricultural imports and subsidized their farmers. Both sets of policies inhibited economic growth and poverty alleviation in developing countries. Although progress has been made over the past two decades to reduce those policy biases, many trade- and welfare-reducing price distortions remain between agriculture and other sectors as well as within the agricultural sector of both rich and poor countries. Comprehensive empirical studies of the disarray in world agricultural markets first appeared approximately 20 years ago. Since then the OECD has provided estimates each year of market distortions in high-income countries, but there has been no comparable estimates for the world's developing countries. This volume is the first in a series (other volumes cover Africa, Asia, and Latin America) that not only fill that void for recent years but extend the estimates in a consistent and comparable way back in time--and provide analytical narratives for scores of countries that shed light on the evolving nature and extent of policy interventions over the past half-century. 'Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Europe's Transition Economies' provides an overview of the evolution of distortions to agricultural incentives caused by price and trade policies in the economies of Eastern Europe and Central Asia that are transitioning away from central planning. The book includes country and subregional studies of the ten transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe that joined the European Union in 2004 or 2007, of seven other large member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and of Turkey. Together these countries comprise over 90 percent of the Europe and Central Asia region's population and GDP. Sectoral, trade, and exchange rate policies in the region have changed greatly since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, but price distortions remain. The new empirical indicators in these country studies provide a strong evidence-based foundation for evaluating policy options in the years ahead.

This book brings together a series of innovative contributions which provide an eclectic view of how theorizing politics plays out in Central Asia. How are the concepts of governance, legitimacy, ideology, power, order, and the state framed in the region? How can we use the experiences of the Central Asian states to renovate political theorizing? In addressing these questions, the volume relies on the contributions of many young and local researchers, whose chapters are primed to address three key themes: exploring models of governance, revealing ideological justifications, and reframing state and order. Utilizing a range of single and comparative case studies from across the Central Asian space, this illuminating and original volume opens up a new space for political theorists, regional specialists and students of politics to begin reconsidering how we approach the theorization of regions of the world assumed to be on the periphery.

The Encyclopedia of Military Science provides a comprehensive, ready-reference on the organization, traditions, training, purpose, and functions of today’s military. Entries in this four-volume work include coverage of the duties, responsibilities, and authority of military personnel and an understanding of strategies and tactics of the modern military and how they interface with political, social, legal, economic, and technological factors. A large component is devoted to issues of leadership, group dynamics, motivation, problem-solving, and decision making in the military context. Finally, this work also covers recent American military history since the end of the Cold War with a special emphasis on peacekeeping and peacemaking operations, the First Persian Gulf War, the events surrounding 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and how the military has been changing in relation to these events.

Authoritative yet accessible, the definitive undergraduate text on Russian geography and culture has now been thoroughly revised with current data and timely topics, such as the annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol and other background for understanding Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Thematic chapters provide up-to-date coverage of Russia's physical, political, cultural, and economic geography. Regional chapters focus on the country's major regions and the other 14 former Soviet republics. Written in a lucid, conversational style by a Russian-born international expert, the concise chapters interweave vivid descriptions of urban and rural landscapes, examinations of Soviet and post-Soviet life, deep knowledge of environmental and conservation issues, geopolitical insights, engaging anecdotes, and rigorous empirical data. Over 200 original maps, photographs, and other figures are also available as PowerPoint slides at the companion website, many in color. New to This Edition *Separate chapter on Ukraine and Crimea, covering events through 2019. *Timely topics--the political crisis in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol; the return of Putin as president; climate change and environmental degradation; economic slowdown; political shifts in the republics; the role of Russian-backed forces in Syria, Libya, and Central African Republic; changes in Russia–United States relations; and more. *Thoroughly updated population, economic, and political data. *80 new or updated figures, tables, and maps. Pedagogical Features *End-of-chapter review questions, suggested assignments, and in-class exercises. *Within-chapter vignettes about Russian places, culture, and history. *End-of-chapter internet resources and suggestions for further reading. *Companion website with all figures and maps from the book, many in full color.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, new states - most of them muslim - emerged in central Asia and the Caucasus. These new states proved to be both oil-rich and central in the strip of conflict and instability that stretches from central Europe to the Far East. This volume draws attention to previously neglected issues which could result in conflict: * the water problem and negotiation in central Asia * the issues of 'Southern Azerbaijan', Ajaria and Javakheti * the many problems of multi-ethnic Daghestan * two attempts at unity in the Northern Caucasus. The book also re-examines some of the established truths regarding the states around the Caspian Sea, and re-evaluates: * the validity of the term 'Caspian region' and the question of who should be included in this new region * the general belief that the Caspian region will be a geopolitical centre of the 21st century * the axiom that the dissolution of the USSR has reopened the 'Great Game'. Moreover, The Caspian Region thoughtfully re-examines the questions of democracy; of fundamentalist Islam and of the complex, ambivalent relationship between Islam and nationalism in the region.