Islam, Oil, and Geopolitics: Central Asia after September 11

by Elizabeth Van Wie Davis (Editor), Rouben Azizian (Editor)

Since the tragic events of September 11, Central Asia has been drawn into the intense struggle of the international community against the forces of religious extremism and transnational crime. The great powers were able to put aside their geopolitical differences in order to crush al-Qaeda and the Taliban. With the marginalization of the Taliban and the eviction of al-Qaeda from Afghanistan, however, the tension between the great powers is notably increasing, as is the discomfort of Central Asian states who find themselves, their political development, and their oil reserves in the middle of a renewed Great Game.

Islam, Oil, and Geopolitics is a truly international volume, including chapters written by senior scholars, upcoming students in the field, prominent diplomats, and renowned academics from Russia, China, the United States, and the Central Asian republics. They collaborate to focus on three important issues that are usually—and unfortunately—analyzed separately: Islamic political issues, energy security, and geopolitical maneuvering. Once an obscure and little-known region, Central Asia has become an important test of America's ability to consistently promote global liberal change, of Russia's true foreign policy agenda, and of China's readiness to translate economic power into political influence. Terrorism, economics, and politics all converge in this strategic region, with important implications for Asia and the world. This significant and timely volume helps readers understand current events in Central Asia and how those events affect the rest of the world.

Contributions by: Kamoludin Abdullaev, Rouben Azizian, Gaye Christoffersen, Elizabeth Van Wie Davis, Feng Shaolei, Pan Guang, Shireen Hunter, Alisher Khamidov, Mikhail A. Konarovsky, Najibullah Lafraie, Murat Laumulin, Sergey I. Lounev, Aleksei V. Malashenko, Orhon Myadar, Manabu Shimizu, Thomas W. Simons Jr., Robert Smith, Sergei Troush, Kang Wu, and Shi Yinhong.

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Elizabeth Van Wie Davis is an expert on Asian geopolitics, and also serves as the director of the Division of Liberal Arts and International Studies at the Colorado School of Mines. She is the author of numerous books on Chinese and Asian political and diplomatic issues, most recently Ruling, Resources and Religion in China (2012).

She received her undergraduate education from Shimer College, where she enrolled after two years of high school via the early entrance program. Her Shimer studies included a year in the school's Oxford University study program. She subsequently received an MA and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, and taught at the University of Virginia, Mary Baldwin College, Illinois State University, Johns Hopkins University, and the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. She joined the School of Mines in 2009. (source: Shimer College Wiki)