Central Asia: Society, Security and Economy

The emergence of five Central Asian Republics (CARs) - Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan - following the Soviet collapse not only created a peculiar geopolitical and geostrategic situation, but also heralded in insurmountable challenges. The contemporary international significance of the CARs reflects their economic, energy and demographic potential, geographic location, and the level of their relations with other states, primarily neighbouring ones. Hydrocarbon reserves of Central Asia have further made the region cynosure of all eyes. Against this background, this book seeks to analyze the overall importance of Central Asia as a region, especially its geopolitical and geostrategic significance, its natural resources that have been affecting a very many powers in and around the region. Besides, this book examines how security in Central Asia has been a grave concern due to rise of non-traditional security threats such as terrorism, religious extremism, narcotics, HIV/AIDS, proliferation of arms etc. This book will cater to the needs of students, researchers, academicians, mediapersons and policy makers, who have been working on Central Asia.