Central Asia's Second ChanceA leading authority on Central Asia offers a sweeping review of the region's path from independence to the post-9/11 world. The first decade of Central Asian independence was disappointing for those who envisioned a straightforward transition from Soviet republics to independent states with market economies and democratic political systems. Leaders excused political failures by pointing to security risks, including the presence of terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. The situation changed dramatically after 9/11, when the camps were largely destroyed and the United States introduced a military presence. More importantly the international community engaged with these states to give them a "second chance" to address social and economic problems. But neither the aid-givers nor the recipients were willing to approach problems in new ways. Now, terrorists groups are once again making their presence felt and some states may be becoming global security risks. This book explores how the region squandered its second chance and what might happen next. |
From inside the book
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... Iran , Afghanistan , and China would have spurred the development of local businesses . Pooling the capacities , supplies , and markets of these states would have expanded the variety and complexity of medium - size enterprise projects ...
... Iran and Turkey, did see the creation of independent states in Central Asia as potentially shifting the geostrategic balance to their respective advantage. Both states had strong cultural affinities with the Central Asian states, and ...
... Central Asian region was more talk than action. Russia had far more immediate concerns. China was very interested in developments in Central Asia, as were India, Iran, Pakistan , and Turkey . China lacked a sense of Martha Brill Olcott | ...
... offshore Kashagan field along the U.S.- supported Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan route, bypass- ing Russia and Iran. Turkmenistan: Dreams Unrealized If policy makers in Washington believed that 36 | Central Asia:The First Ten Years of Independence.
... Iran, where he worked up some enthusiasm among potential investors.36 But in the course of the 1990s, Western plans for development of Turkmenistan's oil and gas reserves were put on hold.37 Turkmen promises of long paid vacations for ...