Includes bibliographical references.

Social and political reorganisation in Central Asia: transition from pre-colonial to post-colonial society / Shirin Akiner -- The impediments to the development of civil societies in Central Asia / Touraj Atabaki -- Russia and former Soviet Central Asia: the attitude towards regional integrity / Vyacheslav Ya. Belokrenitsky -- Foreign policy perspectives of the Central Asian states / Tatiana Shaumian -- Iran and Central Asia / Tchangiz Pahlevan -- Turkish policy in Central Asia / Gareth M. Winrow -- Towards better mutual comprehension among Turkic-speakers / Edward Tryjarski -- The politics of oil and the quest for stability: the Caspian Sea / Tadeusz Swietochowski -- Literature and the nation in contemporary Uzbekistan / Roberta M. Micallef -- The assertion of Uzbek national identity: nativization or state-building process? / Victoria Koroteyeva and Ekaterina Makarova -- Language and culture in transition in Uzbekistan / Cay Dollerup -- Turkmenistan's place in Central Asia and the world / Rainer Freitag-Wirminghaus -- The Hazara of Afghanistan: the thorny path towards political unity, 1978-1992 / Kristian Berg Harpviken -- Ethni c identity versus nationalism: the Uzbeks of northeastern Afghanistan and the Afghan state / Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek -- Nawruz in Tajikistan: ritual or politics? / Ali Attar -- The early twentieth-century Kazakh intelligentsia: in search of national identity / Gulnar Kendirbaeva -- Ethnic religious resurgence in Xinjiang / Kulbhushan Warikoo -- A Central Asian-Chinese ethnic melting pot: the case of the Gansu corridor / Sabira Stålberg -- Nations transgressing nation-states: constructing Dungan, Uygur and Kazakh identities across China, Central Asia and Turkey / Dru C. Gladney -- Past and present of a Manchu tribe: the Sibe / Liliya Gorelova -- The Tuvans in China: ethnic identity and language / Marina Mongush -- Central Asia in the minds of the Mughals / Richard Foltz -- Russian slaves in 17th-century Bukhara / Audrey Burton -- The royal clan of the Turks and the problem of its designation / Sergey G. Kljyashtorny -- Burial sites in Hexi / Susanne Kohl.

Because of its geographical location, Central Asia has been a cultural crossroads since the dawn of history. The great ancient civilizations of China, Iran, India, the Turkic peoples of the northern steppes have all shaped its historical development. Over seventy years of Soviet rule, however, serious attempts were made to suppress aspects of local culture, including religion and any separatist sense of ethnic identity. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the independent Central Asian republics enjoy a greater degree of autonomy but they are faced with a range of complex social, political and economic problems. This book addresses not only these problems but also aspects of the regions history and culture, including questions of contemporary nationalism and ethnic identity, the recent political role of the literati, the role of oil in the economies of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, the foreign policy dilemmas of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the Ether republics, and Iran's aspirations in the region.