Download or read book The Caucasus in Europe Asia Connectivity written by Thomas Kruessmann and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Chinese Belt and Road Initiative has produced a flurry of activities both in the countries of the South Caucasus and in Russia. While mostly analyzed through the lens of geo-politics and geo-economics, there is new research emerging that represents more sophisticated approaches from a variety of social science disciplines. This volume, based on the AESC Annual Convention in December 2020, collects a sample of critical voices to study the effects of infrastructure projects on local livelihoods, on sustainable and environmentally sound development, transparency, and inclusiveness.

Download or read book The Caucasus in Europe Asia Connectivity written by Thomas Kruessmann and published by Ibidem Press. This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Chinese Belt and Road Initiative has produced a flurry of activities both in the countries of the South Caucasus and in Russia. This volume collects a sample of critical voices to study the effects of infrastructure projects on local livelihoods, sustainable and environmentally sound development, transparency, and inclusiveness.

Download or read book Russia s War on Ukraine and the Rise of the Middle Corridor as a Third Vector of Eurasian Connectivity written by Tuba Eldem and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Among the many significant geopolitical consequences of Russia's war against Ukraine has been the reinvigoration of the Middle Corridor, both as a regional economic zone comprising Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Turkey but also as an increasingly attractive alternative route between Europe and China. Russia's war has disrupted overland connectivity via the New Eurasian Land Bridge, also known as Northern Corridor, which passes through - now heavily sanctioned - Russian and Belarusian territory. While the Middle Corridor will not be able to fully replace the Northern Corridor, regional integration along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route is likely to increase its potential at the expense of Russia in the long-term. Ankara's close cultural ties with the Central Asian republics combined with the latter's willingness to diversify their foreign relations away from Moscow and Beijing provide Turkey with greater leverage in the region. The EU and Turkey share a common interest in enhancing Eurasian connectivity for several reasons: to promote peace and prosperity in the South Caucasus and Central Asia, to enhance commercial access to Central Asia, to increase the resilience of European supply chains, and to diversify European energy supplies. Strengthening Eurasian connectivity would also work to balance Russian, Chinese, and Iranian influence in Central Asia.

Download or read book The Long Game on the Silk Road written by S. Frederick Starr and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2018-04-03 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues that American and European policies toward Central Asia and the Caucasus suffer from both conceptual and structural impediments. It traces the framework of Western policies to the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, which resulted in the stovepiping of relations into political, economic, and democracy categories – and in often uncoordinated or contradictory policies. While the authors embrace the goal of promoting human rights and democracy, they argue that the antagonistic methods adopted to advance this goal have proven counter-productive. They propose that Western governments work with the regional states rather than on or against them; and that instead of focusing directly on political systems, policies should focus on developing the quality of governance and help build institutions that will be building blocks of rule of law and democracy in the long term. The authors also argue that Western leaders have largely failed to grasp the significance of this region, relegated it to a subordinate status and thus damaging western interests. The development of sovereign, economically strong, and effectively self-governing states in the Caucasus and Central Asia is an important goal in its own right; the book stresses the importance of a region where the development and preservation of secular statehood could become a model for the entire Muslim world.

Download or read book The Long Game on the Silk Road written by S. Frederick Starr and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2018 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the past 25 years, America and Europe both developed relations with Central Asia and the Caucasus. This book argues that American and European policies suffer from both conceptual and structural impediments. It provides detailed analysis of these policies and proposes constructive recommendations for their improvement.

Download or read book Russian Soviet Unconventional Wars in the Caucasus Central Asia and Afghanistan Illustrated Edition written by Dr. Robert F. Baumann and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: [Includes 12 maps and 4 tables] In recent years, the U.S. Army has paid increasing attention to the conduct of unconventional warfare. However, the base of historical experience available for study has been largely American and overwhelmingly Western. In Russian-Soviet Unconventional Wars in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Afghanistan, Dr. Robert F. Baumann makes a significant contribution to the expansion of that base with a well-researched analysis of four important episodes from the Russian-Soviet experience with unconventional wars. Primarily employing Russian sources, including important archival documents only recently declassified and made available to Western scholars, Dr. Baumann provides an insightful look at the Russian conquest of the Caucasian mountaineers (1801-59), the subjugation of Central Asia (1839-81), the reconquest of Central Asia by the Red Army (1918-33), and the Soviet war in Afghanistan (1979-89). The history of these wars—especially as it relates to the battle tactics, force structure, and strategy employed in them—offers important new perspectives on elements of continuity and change in combat over two centuries. This is the first study to provide an in-depth examination of the evolution of the Russian and Soviet unconventional experience on the predominantly Muslim southern periphery of the former empire. There, the Russians encountered fierce resistance by peoples whose cultures and views of war differed sharply from their own. Consequently, this Leavenworth Paper addresses not only issues germane to combat but to a wide spectrum of civic and propaganda operations as well.

Download or read book History of the Caucasus written by Christoph Baumer and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-08-26 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Rich and illuminating." Literary Review A landscape of high mountains and narrow valleys stretching from the Black to the Caspian Seas, the Caucasus region has been home to human populations for nearly 2 million years. In this richly illustrated 2-volume series, historian and explorer Christoph Baumer tells the story of the region's history through to the present day. It is a story of encounters between many different peoples, from Scythians, Turkic and Mongol peoples of the East to Greeks and Romans from the West, from Indo-European tribes from the West as well as the East, and to Arabs and Iranians from the South. It is a story of rival claims by Empires and nations and of how the region has become home to more than 50 languages that can be heard within its borders to this very day. This first volume charts the period from the emergence of the earliest human populations in the region – the first known human populations outside Africa - to the Seljuk conquests of 1050CE. Along the way the book charts the development of Neolithic, Iron and Bronze Age cultures, the first recognizable Caucasian state and the arrival of a succession of the great transnational Empires, from the Greeks, the Romans and the Armenian to competing Christian and Muslim conquerors. The History of the Caucasus: Volume 1 also includes more than 200 full colour images and maps bringing the changing cultures of these lands vividly to life.

Download or read book The Eurasian Connection written by Cordula Rastogi and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2014-06-23 with total page 133 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Modern Silk Route is critical to the development and integration of Central Asian countries. The book argues that to overcome current supply chain inefficiencies the traditional focus on physical corridors needs to be complemented by a consistent and ambitious set of national reforms in trade and transport facilitation.

Download or read book The Caucasus written by Thomas De Waal and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2018-12-03 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fully revised and updated, Tom de Waal's The Caucasus is an essential and authoritative introduction to this complex region. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and the breakaway territories that have tried to split away from these states constitute one of the most diverse and challenging regions on earth, impressing the visitor with their multi-layered history, ethnic complexity, and seemingly intractable conflicts. Over the last few years, the South Caucasus region has captured international attention again because of its role in disputes between the West and Russia, its unsolved conflicts, and its role as an energy transport corridor to Europe. De Waal begins with a historical overview and then shifts his attention to the contemporary era, particularly the roiling conflicts over Nagorny Karabakh, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia. He also analyzes the energy politics of the region, the 2008 "Five-Day War" between Georgia and Russia, and recent political changes in all three countries. In addition, the book features brief snapshots of fascinating side topics such as Georgian wine, Baku jazz, and how the coast of Abkhazia came to be known as the "Soviet Florida." Concise, stimulating, and rich in detail, The Caucasus is the perfect guide to this fascinating and misunderstood region.

Download or read book EU Central Asian Interactions written by Rick Fawn and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-07-12 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From limited interactions in the early 1990s, the EU and Central Asia now consider each other to be increasingly important. This book includes 12 chapters written by seasoned and policy-engaged researchers from across Eurasia and the wider world that analyse multiple levels of mutual interactions, understandings and misunderstandings across a range of policy areas. It shows why and in what ways exactly the EU and Central Asia matter to each other and why policymakers and researchers should pay more attention to their interactions. Central Asia falls under the broader external relations and security agenda of the EU, and over years it provided a testing ground for many EU policies, including the priority ones of region-building and resilience promotion. Looking at the EU, in turn, informs as to how Central Asian actors interact with external partners of the region, and how that can influence national policy agendas and consequently everyday life – bringing new approaches, insights and evidence also to the wide field of EU studies. This book is of key interest to scholars, practitioners and students of Central Asian history and politics, EU foreign policy, EU-Central Asia relations, and more broadly of EU studies, International Relations, regionalism and interregionalism as well as security studies. The chapters in this book were published over three issues of Central Asian Survey.

Download or read book The Central Asian Economies in the Twenty First Century written by Richard Pomfret and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2019-01-15 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyzes the Central Asian economies of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, from their buffeting by the commodity boom of the early 2000s to its collapse in 2014. Richard Pomfret examines the countries’ relations with external powers and the possibilities for development offered by infrastructure projects as well as rail links between China and Europe. The transition of these nations from centrally planned to market-based economic systems was essentially complete by the early 2000s, when the region experienced a massive increase in world prices for energy and mineral exports. This raised incomes in the main oil and gas exporters, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan; brought more benefits to the most populous country, Uzbekistan; and left the poorest countries, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, dependent on remittances from migrant workers in oil-rich Russia and Kazakhstan. Pomfret considers the enhanced role of the Central Asian nations in the global economy and their varied ties to China, the European Union, Russia, and the United States. With improved infrastructure and connectivity between China and Europe (reflected in regular rail freight services since 2011 and China’s announcement of its Belt and Road Initiative in 2013), relaxation of United Nations sanctions against Iran in 2016, and the change in Uzbekistan’s presidency in late 2016, a window of opportunity appears to have opened for Central Asian countries to achieve more sustainable economic futures.

Download or read book China s Eurasian Century written by Nadáege Rolland and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: China's Belt and Road Initiative has become the organizing foreign policy concept of the Xi Jinping era. The 21st-century version of the Silk Road will take shape around a vast network of transportation, energy, and telecommunication infrastructure linking Europe and Africa to Asia. Drawing from the work of Chinese official and analytic communities, China's Eurasian Century? Political and Strategic Implications of the Belt and Road Initiative examines the concept's origins, drivers, and various component parts, as well as China's domestic and international objectives. Nadáege Rolland shows how the Belt and Road Initiative reflects Beijing's desire to shape Eurasia according to its own worldview and unique characteristics. More than a list of revamped infrastructure projects, the initiative is a grand strategy that serves China's vision for itself as the preponderant power in Eurasia and a global power second to none.

Download or read book Engaging Central Asia written by Bhavna Dave and published by CEPS. This book was released on 2008 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In July 2007, the European Union initiated a fundamentally new approach to the countries of Central Asia. The launch of the EU Strategy for Central Asia signals a qualitative shift in the Union's relations with a region of the world that is of growing importance as a supplier of energy, is geographically situated in a politically sensitive area - between China, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan and the south Caucasus - and contains some of the most authoritarian political regimes in the world. In this volume, leading specialists from Europe, the United States and Central Asia explore the key challenges facing the European Union as it seeks to balance its policies between enhancing the Union's energy, business and security interests in the region while strengthening social justice, democratisation efforts and the protection of human rights. With chapters devoted to the Union's bilateral relations with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan and to the vital issues of security and democratisation, 'Engaging Central Asia' provides the first comprehensive analysis of the EU's strategic initiative in a part of the world that is fast emerging as one of the key regions of the 21st century."--BOOK JACKET.

Download or read book Critical Connections written by David Michael Gould and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2018-09-25 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Critical Connections examines how trade, investment, migration, and other linkages among countries drive economic growth in the Europe and Central Asia region. The study breaks new ground by using a multidimensional approach that recognizes how each connectivity channel for growth is likely to be affected by the strength of other channels. This multidimensional view makes it easier to see that diversity in country connections and balance in all channels of connectivity are critical for achieving the greatest impact on growth. Europe and Central Asia provides a great laboratory for observing the role of multidimensional connectivity in action. The region’s 30 countries vary widely in the openness of their economies. Its collective experience shows how the various elements of cross-border connectivity work together to accelerate progrowth knowledge transfers, which in turn boost productivity through participation in today’s global value chains. A country’s economic partner might be just as important as the type of connection. Being well connected to highly connected countries can provide benefits beyond being well connected to comparatively isolated countries. Although greater connectivity can expose countries to external shocks, the report presents fact-based argument for policies that seek to build deeper and more diverse connections within the Europe and Central Asia region and globally. The message is timely. Europe’s once-confident march toward economic integration has slowed over the past decade, with voices in many countries questioning the wisdom of opening to the global economy. Critical Connections serves as a reminder to citizens and policy makers that greater regional and global connectivity has been a tremendous “convergence machine,†? raising living standards of lower-income countries toward those of wealthier middle- to high-income countries.

Download or read book Europe Central Asia Relations written by Kashif Hasan Khan and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-05-29 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses the current state of economic and political development within Central Asia and the importance of European countries and organizations as international actors and supranational organizations for the Central Asian Region (CAR). It aims to provide a better understanding of Central Asia’s multi-faceted relations in rapidly evolving geostrategic dynamics and serves as a timely insight into the contours of Central Asian states’ policies, emerging trends, and significant features of these interactions. The aim is to analyze the main challenges for future between the Europe and Central Asia relations, to make recommendations for improvement, and to identify lines for future research on this matter. It highlights key aspects of current discourses in CAR vis-à-vis the role of European countries and China and other key players. It explores post-Soviet scenarios, considering recent drastic changes in the equation of international relations in general and, more particularly the role of Russia and China vis-à-vis Europe in the CARs. This book covers the different perspectives on the EU’s new strategy (2019), which will contribute to strengthening relations between the two growing regions. It will be beneficial for academics, practitioners, and policymakers.

Download or read book The International Politics of the Armenian Azerbaijani Conflict written by Svante E. Cornell and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-01-20 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book frames the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in the context of European and international security. It is the first book to focus on the politics of the conflict rather than the dispute itself. Since their emergence twenty years ago, this and other “frozen conflicts” of Eurasia have been affected by transformations in European security, and many ways absorbed into an ever fiercer geopolitical struggle for influence. The wars in Georgia and Ukraine brought greater attention to some unresolved conflicts, but not to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. As the contributors to this volume argue, the conflict merits much greater European attention, for several reasons: it is on a path of escalation, existing mediation regimes are dysfunctional, and as both Georgia and Ukraine have showed, any outbreak of serious fighting will force the EU to respond. This book thus explains the interlocking interests of Russia, Turkey, Iran, the EU and United States in the conflict, and analyzes the negotiation process and the conflict’s international legal aspects.

Download or read book Reaping Digital Dividends written by Tim Kelly and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2017-04-14 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From East to West, the economies of Europe and Central Asia (ECA) are not taking full advantage of the internet to foster economic growth and job creation. The residents of Central Asia and the South Caucasus pay some of the highest prices in the world for internet connections that are slow and unreliable. In contrast, Europe enjoys some of the world’s fastest and affordable internet services. However, its firms and individuals are not fully exploiting the internet to achieve higher productivity growth as well as more and better jobs. Reaping Digital Dividends investigates the barriers that are holding back the broader adoption of the internet in ECA. The report identifies the main bottlenecks and provides policy recommendations tailored to economies at varying levels of digital development. It concludes that policies to increase internet access are necessary but not sufficient. Policies to foster competition, international trade and skills supply, as well as adapting regulations to the changing business environment and labor markets, will also be necessary. In other words, Reaping Digital Dividends not only requires better connectivity, but also complementary factors that allow governments, firms and individuals to make the most out of it.