Contents: About the authors. Abbreviations. Foreword. Introduction/V. Nagendra Rao. I. Internal Dimensions: 1. Central Asia's quest for democratic identity/R.R. Sharma. 2. Political change and leadership succession in the post-Soviet central Asian republics/Devendra Kaushik. 3. Central Asia: managing inter-ethnic relations/P.L. Dash. 4. Ethnicity and nationalism in central Asia/Ajay Patnaik. 5. Reconciling differences in central Asia/Suchandana Chatterjee. 6. Religious extremism in central Asia: towards a conceptualisation/V. Nagendra Rao. II. External dimensions: 7. Towards constructive strategic partnership: Russia and China in central Asia/Anita Sengupta. 8. US policy in central Asia: problems and prospects/Mohammad Monir Alam. 9. Islamic world and central Asia: Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan/K.S. Sidhu. 10. Iran and central Asia: emerging geo-political and strategic imperatives/Mohammad Monir Alam. III. Indo-central Asian relations: 11. India's strategic and security interests in central Asia/Kapil Kak. 12. India and central Asia: bilateral dimensions/ Nirmala Joshi. 13. Changing strategic landscape in central Asia: implications for India's security/P. Stobdan. 14. Indo-Uzbek relations: an Indian perspective/Ramakant Dwivedi. 15. Central Asian economic transformation and Indian response/Gulshan Sachdeva. 16. India's economic presence in central Asia: prospects and constraints/Dipankar Sengupta. 17. India's overseas energy policy: the central Asian factor/Happymon Jacob. 18. Where to look for literature on central Asia/Rajlaxmi Dash. 19. Conclusion/Mohammad Monior Alam. Index.
"This volume captures the post-Soviet transformation of central Asia and examines various developments that have brought the region into international prominence. Of the three parts, the first one analyse the internal dimensions of transformation and concentrates on the political apparatus and state structures, economic aspects, problems of ethnicity and nationalism, and the role of religion and its transnational linkages in central Asia.
The second part explores the strategic context of central Asia and focusses especially on cooperation and competition between various regional and extra-regional powers, particularly the US, Russia and China, in their attempts to enhance influence over the region and gain control over the hydrocarbon reserves. This section also probes the relations of the central Asian states with the neighbouring countries, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan.
The third section of the volume deals exclusively with Indo-central Asian relations. It focusses primarily on new policy challenges confronted by India after the emergence of independent states in the Eurasian region, especially in the context of great power interplay and the continuously changing Eurasian strategic landscape. Apart from India's security concerns, the chapters in this section also emphasise the economic aspects of Indo-central Asian relations. " (jacket)
