Any understanding of the complex politics of the post-Soviet Caucasus presupposes an understanding of the relationship between the transportation of Azerbaijan's oil, inter-state relations and ethnic conflicts. Energy and Security in the Caucasus is an ambitious new contribution to the debate revolving around the geo-politics of the Caucasus.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine continues with little sign of a negotiated resolution. Crimea has been absorbed into the Russian Federation, and celebrates the third anniversary of its 'integration' in March 2017. The ongoing nature of the conflict contrasts with a lack of academic exploration of the issues surrounding it. To date, most analyses have focused on the geopolitical implications of the Ukrainian crisis, such as the impact on NATO-Russia relations, and foreign policy responses to the crisis from a variety of state and supranational actors including the EU and Russia. The role of sub-state and non-state actors, and implications for them, has been largely overlooked. This volume seeks to rectify this by examining a wide array of non-state and sub-state actors that have both played a role in the conflict in Ukraine and been indirectly impacted by it.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine continues with little sign of a negotiated resolution. Crimea has been absorbed into the Russian Federation, and celebrates the third anniversary of its 'integration' in March 2017. The ongoing nature of the conflict contrasts with a lack of academic exploration of the issues surrounding it. To date, most analyses have focused on the geopolitical implications of the Ukrainian crisis, such as the impact on NATO-Russia relations, and foreign policy responses to the crisis from a variety of state and supranational actors including the EU and Russia. The role of sub-state and non-state actors, and implications for them, has been largely overlooked. This volume seeks to rectify this by examining a wide array of non-state and sub-state actors that have both played a role in the conflict in Ukraine and been indirectly impacted by it.

Any understanding of the complex politics of the post-Soviet Caucasus presupposes an understanding of the relationship between the transportation of Azerbaijan's oil, inter-state relations and ethnic conflicts. Energy and Security in the Caucasus is a contribution to the debate revolving around the geo-politics of the Caucasus.

The terrorist attacks in the United States on 9/11 and the U.S.-led military campaign against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan have intensified scrutiny of radical Islamic groups across Central Asia. This books offers one of the first comprehensive studies of the activities of one of the most feared - but least understood - inernational Islamist organizations in post-Soviet Central Asia: Hizb ut-Tahrir, that is The Party of Islamic Liberation. By utilizing social movement theory, the book analyses political Islam in Central Asia in general, and the phenomenon of Hizb ut-Tahrir in particular. It reveals the critical role of its ideology (based on a selective interpretation of Islamic theology and history) in the party s recruiting success. Using primary sources, including the group s publications and documents, official reports, alongside interviews with scholars, security experts, mullahs, journalists, diplomats, government officials and group members, it covers the rise of political Islam in the post-Soviet Central Asia, alongside the origins and current status of Hizb ut-Tahrir - its leadership, ideology, political methodology and party structure and its rise in the region from Kazakhstan to Russia and China. Although the organization has received less international examination partly because it has advocated a non-violent approach toward its goals, this book sketches its prospective future relationship to violence in this key region.

The terrorist attacks in the United States on 9/11 and the U.S.-led military campaign against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan have intensified scrutiny of radical Islamic groups across Central Asia. This books offers one of the first comprehensive studies of the activities of one of the most feared - but least understood - inernational Islamist organizations in post-Soviet Central Asia: Hizb ut-Tahrir, that is The Party of Islamic Liberation. By utilizing social movement theory, the book analyses political Islam in Central Asia in general, and the phenomenon of Hizb ut-Tahrir in particular. It reveals the critical role of its ideology (based on a selective interpretation of Islamic theology and history) in the party's recruiting success. Using primary sources, including the group's publications and documents, official reports, alongside interviews with scholars, security experts, mullahs, journalists, diplomats, government officials and group members, it covers the rise of political Islam in the post-Soviet Central Asia, alongside the origins and current status of Hizb ut-Tahrir - its leadership, ideology, political methodology and party structure and its rise in the region from Kazakhstan to Russia and China. Although the organization has received less international examination partly because it has advocated a non-violent approach toward its goals, this book sketches its prospective future relationship to violence in this key region.

Islamist political parties and groups are on the rise throughout the Muslim world and in Muslim communities in the West. Owing largely to the threat of terrorism, political Islam is often portrayed as a monolithic movement embodying fundamentalism and theocracy, an image magnified by the rise of populism and xenophobia in the United States and Europe. Reality, however, is far more complicated. Political Islam has evolved considerably since its spectacular rise decades ago, and today it features divergent viewpoints and contributes to discrete but simultaneous developments worldwide. This is a new political Islam, more global in scope but increasingly local in action. Emmanuel Karagiannis offers a sophisticated analysis of the different manifestations of contemporary Islamism. In a context of global economic and social changes, he finds local manifestations of Islamism are becoming both more prevalent and more diverse. Many Islamists turn to activism, still more participate formally in the democratic process, and some, in far fewer numbers, advocate violence-a wide range of political persuasions and tactics that reflects real and perceived political, cultural, and identity differences. Synthesizing prodigious research and integrating insights from the globalization debate and the literature on social movements, The New Political Islam seeks to explain the processes and factors leading to distinctive fusions of "the global" and "the local" across the landscape of contemporary political Islam. Examining converts to Islam in Europe, nonviolent Islamists with global reach, Islamist parties in Turkey, Egypt, and Tunisia, and militant Shia and Sunni groups in Syria and Iraq, Karagiannis demonstrates that Islamists have embraced ideas and practices from the global marketplace and have attempted to implement them locally. He looks closely at the ways in which Islamist activists, politicians, and militants have utilized the language of human rights, democracy, and justice to gain influence and popular support and to contend for power.

From North Africa to Indonesia, Muslim populations have struggled to cope with the new environmental realities. However, in the era of globalisation, institutionalised Islamist parties, particularly in government, are increasingly addressing green issues and suggesting policies in order to help protect water supplies, reduce pollution and increase tree plantation. This applies to Islamists who participate in electoral politics, as well as those who are classified as transnational or militant. Delving into the causes of this new environmentalism phenomenon, Emmanuel Karagiannis explores the religious and political motivations of five Islamist groups and assesses the degree of influence that Islamic texts, rulings and principles have on the green policies pursued.