Afghanistan and Central Asia : A Modern History.
- 1st ed.
- 1 online resource (207 pages)
Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- GLOSSARY -- WHO'S WHO -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- PREFACE -- MAPS -- ONE INTRODUCTION -- Afghanistan -- Central Asia -- The Mongols -- The Russians come -- The Communists come -- Stalin's revolution -- The 1970s: Uzbekistan -- Khrushchev and the Virgin Lands -- The Great Uzbek cotton scandal -- Cometh the hour, cometh Gorbachev -- The Russians go -- A new dawn -- TWO THE ECONOMY: BIG BUCKS AND WHO GETS THEM? -- Afghanistan -- Central Asia -- Kazakhstan -- Kyrgyzstan -- Tajikistan -- Turkmenistan -- Uzbekistan -- THREE ISLAM AND TERRORISM -- Afghanistan -- Taliban -- Islam and violence -- Central Asia -- Post-communism or return to the past -- Islamic terrorists or drug smugglers? -- The battle of Batken -- The insurgents return -- The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan -- Conclusions -- FOUR THE GREAT GAME: THE POWERS VIE FOR PRIMACY -- Afghanistan: the cockpit -- Central Asia -- China -- Russia -- Pipelines -- Peacekeeping -- Iran -- Turkey -- United States -- Pakistan -- FIVE II SEPTEMBER 2001 AND ALL THAT -- Afghanistan -- II September 2001 -- Putin's game -- US secret alliance in Central Asia -- Russian aid decisive -- The US and oil -- The end of the Taliban? -- GUIDE TO FURTHER READING -- INDEX.
The Afghan crisis has grabbed the attention of the entire world, and underlined the desperate need in the West for a better understanding of the region and its challenges in the face of increasingly militant interpretations of Islam. Covering Afghanistan and the Islamic crescent of ex-Soviet republics - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan - Martin McCauley draws on his vast knowledge of the region to provide a clear introduction to its history and its people.