"Conceptually very rich and broad . . . Will outlive the continuous changes that are taking place in the territory of the former Soviet Union."--A. Reza Sheikholeslami, Oriental Institute, St. Antony's College, Oxford University


"A multidisciplinary as well as a multicultural approach to the study of Central Asia. . . . An informative account of history, politics, religions, and the social complexities of the Central Asian societies."--Manochehr Dorraj, Texas Christian University


Leading Western, Russian, and Central Asian scholars examine here the domestic and international dynamics of Muslim Central Asia and the Caucasus. They address the two circumstances that continue to affect the Muslim states of the former Soviet Union: the enduring impact of the Soviet experience on ethno-social and political life, and the prospects for the recovery of their own identities now that the Soviet system has collapsed. The authors of these essays suggest that the symbiosis of these two forces will continue to characterize political and social developments in Central Asia and the Caucasus for years to come.

Contents
The Emerging Muslim States of Central Asia and the Caucasus, by Mohiaddin Mesbahi

Part 1. Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus: Ethnicity and Islam
The Ethnohistorical Dynamics of Muslim Societies within Russia and the CIS, by Sergei A. Panarin
The Emerging Central Asia: Ethnic and Religious Factions, by Eden Naby
Muslim Central Asia: Soviet Development Legacies and Future Challenges, by M. Nazif Shahrani


Part 2. The New Muslim States: The North Caucasus and Azerbaijan
The "Internal" Muslim Factor in the Politics of Russia: Tatarstan and the North Caucasus, by Marie Bennigsen Broxup
Azerbaijan, by Yuri N. Zinin and Alexei V. Maleshenko

Part 3. The New Muslim States: Central Asia
Kazakhstan, by Martha Brill Olcott
Uzbekistan, by Zahid I. Munavvarov
Kyrgyzstan, by Alexander O. Filonyk
Tadjikistan, by Aziz Niyazi
Turkmenistan, by Andrei G. Nedvetsky

Part 4: Russia and the Former Soviet South: The New Geopolitics
The Disintegration of the Soviet Eurasian Empire: An Ongoing Debate, by Milan L. Hauner
Great Power Ideology and the Muslim Nations of the CIS, by Arthur Sagdeev
Central Asia and the Middle East: The Emerging Links, by Anthony Hyman
Russia and the Geopolitics of the Muslim South, by Mohiaddin Mesbahi


Mohiaddin Mesbahi is associate professor of international relations at Florida International University, Miami. He has published several studies of Soviet-Iranian relations and Central Asian security and is the editor of Russia and the Third World in the Post-Soviet Era (UPF, 1994).

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...highly recommended for both students and scholars...
--Central Asian Survey