A vibrant portrait of an age when Arabic enlightenment anticipated and inspired the European Renaissance, illuminated by its guiding figures and rivals, Ibn Sina and Biruni. In The Genius of their Age, S. Frederick Starr follows up his acclaimed Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age with a portrait of the Arab enlightenment and its key figures—Abu-Ali al-Husayn ibn-'Abdallah Ibn-Sina and Abu al-Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni. A thousand years ago, these two intellectual giants—known as Ibn Sina and Biruni for short—achieved stunning breakthroughs in fields as diverse as medicine, astronomy, mathematics, philosophy, geography, and physics. Biruni measured the earth more precisely than anyone else down to the sixteenth century, pondered a heliocentric universe, and hypothesized the existence of North and South America as inhabited continents. Ibn Sina's writing on philosophy and metaphysics enriched the writings of countless European thinkers, including St. Thomas Aquinas, while Sina's grand synthesis of medical knowledge became the standard for the next six hundred years in Europe, the Middle East, and India. They both also commented extensively on the works of ancient Greeks and earlier Muslim thinkers, whose works they aspired to synthesize—and to transcend. Contemporaries, Ibn Sina and Biruni were born within the borders of what is now Uzbekistan and spent their lives in Central Asia. They also became rivals, launching a correspondence and commentary that galvanized them despite sometimes bitter disagreement. Centuries before the West caught up with them, Ibn Sina and Biruni reflected their age's feats and its intellectual high point, persisting with their inquiries and their independence amid turmoil and rapid change. Though scholars have long dissected the works of Ibn Sina and Biruni, S. Frederick Starr focuses also on their lives and the times in which they lived. By contextualizing their work and by making the age palpable to the reader, S. Frederick Starr gives the achievements of Ibn Sina and Biruni a holistic and unforgettably human dimension.

The collapse of the Soviet Union had the simultaneous effect of demolishing the international political order of the past half-century, with consequences for all sides. Western policy makers, no less than the leaders of the region, had to reorient themselves to a new world -- knowing that their actions might impact developments in unexpected ways.

This concluding volume of the International Politics of Eurasia series takes on the challenge of specifying the forces at work in the International environment of Russia and the New Independent States and gauging the impact of external actors on developments in this region. Among the topics covered are foreign and security policies; relationships with East Asian, Near Eastern, and Western States; and the impact of international economic and financial institutions, development assistance and advisory programs of various kinds, and aid organizations.

First Published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an Informa company.

Uzbekistan, long considered the center of Central Asia, has the region's largest population and borders every other regional state including Afghanistan. For the first 25 years of its independence, it adopted a cautious, defensive policy that emphasized sovereignty and treated regional efforts at cooperation with skepticism. But after taking over as President in autumn 2016, Shavkat Mirziyoyev launched a breathtaking series of reform initiatives. His slogan - "it is high time the government serves the people, not vice versa" - led to large-scale reforms in virtually every sector. Time will tell whether the reform effort will succeed, but its first positive fruits are already visible, particularly in a new dynamism within Uzbek society, as well as a fresh approach to foreign relations, where a new spirit of regionalism is taking root. This book is the first systematic effort to analyze Uzbekistan's reforms.

Uzbekistan, long considered the center of Central Asia, has the region's largest population and borders every other regional state including Afghanistan. For the first 25 years of its independence, it adopted a cautious, defensive policy that emphasized sovereignty and treated regional efforts at cooperation with skepticism. But after taking over as President in autumn 2016, Shavkat Mirziyoyev launched a breathtaking series of reform initiatives. His slogan - "it is high time the government serves the people, not vice versa" - led to large-scale reforms in virtually every sector. Time will tell whether the reform effort will succeed, but its first positive fruits are already visible, particularly in a new dynamism within Uzbek society, as well as a fresh approach to foreign relations, where a new spirit of regionalism is taking root. This book is the first systematic effort to analyze Uzbekistan's reforms.

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.

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.

This anthology of articles, short studies, and interviews by Alexandros Petersen was written over the span of ten years, starting in 2004. Yet they are even more relevant today in their prescient analysis. Petersen insightfully addressed the implications of the West withdrawing its engagement from the Caucasus and Central Asia, the expansion of the Chinese influence, and Russia's strategic interests. The collection is organized along four main topics: (1) Eurasia and a changing transatlantic world: the world politics of shifting frontiers in the post-Soviet world; (2) Energy geopolitics in the Caspian and beyond, with its crucial implications for European energy security; (3) the Black Sea world, covering the dynamics of Russia, Turkey, and the South Caucasus, including the role of NATO and frozen conflicts in the region; (4) the new silk roads: China's inroads in Central Asia, which is often overlooked in the West but will be critical for the geopolitical balance of powers.

In this sweeping and richly illustrated history, S. Frederick Starr tells the fascinating but largely unknown story of Central Asia's medieval enlightenment through the eventful lives and astonishing accomplishments of its greatest minds--remarkable figures who built a bridge to the modern world. Because nearly all of these figures wrote in Arabic, they were long assumed to have been Arabs. In fact, they were from Central Asia--drawn from the Persianate and Turkic peoples of a region that today extends from Kazakhstan southward through Afghanistan, and from the easternmost province of Iran through Xinjiang, China. Lost Enlightenment recounts how, between the years 800 and 1200, Central Asia led the world in trade and economic development, the size and sophistication of its cities, the refinement of its arts, and, above all, in the advancement of knowledge in many fields. Central Asians achieved signal breakthroughs in astronomy, mathematics, geology, medicine, chemistry, music, social science, philosophy, and theology, among other subjects. They gave algebra its name, calculated the earth's diameter with unprecedented precision, wrote the books that later defined European medicine, and penned some of the world's greatest poetry. One scholar, working in Afghanistan, even predicted the existence of North and South America--five centuries before Columbus. Rarely in history has a more impressive group of polymaths appeared at one place and time. No wonder that their writings influenced European culture from the time of St. Thomas Aquinas down to the scientific revolution, and had a similarly deep impact in India and much of Asia. Lost Enlightenment chronicles this forgotten age of achievement, seeks to explain its rise, and explores the competing theories about the cause of its eventual demise. Informed by the latest scholarship yet written in a lively and accessible style, this is a book that will surprise general readers and specialists alike.

The Ferghana Valley can reasonably be said to lie in the heart of Central Asia. As such, the Valley has made an inordinate contribution to the history and culture of the region as a whole, as well as significantly affecting the economic, political and religious spheres. This book looks at the region over time, from its early history to the present. It embraces not just the obvious fields of politics, economics and religion, but also ethnography, sociology and culture, and includes the insights of leading scholars from all three Ferghana countries. The book discusses various questions of identity relating to the region, showing how the identity of the Ferghana Valley relates to the emerging national identities of the three post-colonial states that are still gradually emerging from the demise of the Soviet Union, as well as how an understanding of the Ferghana Valley is key to understanding Central Asia itself.

In the summer of 2008, a conflict that appeared to have begun in the breakaway Georgian territory of South Ossetia rapidly escalated to become the most significant crisis in European security in a decade. The implications of the Russian-Georgian war will be understood differently depending on one's narrative of what transpired and perspective on the broader context. This book is designed to present the facts about the events of August 2008 along with comprehensive coverage of the background to those events. It brings together a wealth of expertise on the South Caucasus and Russian foreign policy, with contributions by Russian, Georgian, European, and American experts on the region.

In the summer of 2008, a conflict that appeared to have begun in the breakaway Georgian territory of South Ossetia rapidly escalated to become the most significant crisis in European security in a decade. The implications of the Russian-Georgian war will be understood differently depending on one's narrative of what transpired and perspective on the broader context. This book is designed to present the facts about the events of August 2008 along with comprehensive coverage of the background to those events. It brings together a wealth of expertise on the South Caucasus and Russian foreign policy, with contributions by Russian, Georgian, European, and American experts on the region.

This handbook is designed to help researchers, journalists, students, and business people to locate the rich array of Washington institutions and organizations that focus on issues pertaining to Central Asia and the Caucasus region, particularly in the post-Soviet period. Washington's status as a major repository of documentation on every aspect of the region is strong and growing daily. Beyond the Library of Congress, which intensively collects newspapers and other published materials from the region, and the Foreign Broadcast Information Service, which does the same for radio, there are hundreds of national and international public, non-profit, and private organizations and institutions in Washington with extensive links to Central Asia and the Caucasus, all of which maintain active archives and collections. The Guide includes more than 270 entries. It describes the structure and scholarly and technical resources of libraries, archives and manuscript repositories, museums and galleries, collections of sound and visual recordings, map and film collections, and the holdings of research centers and information agencies. Academic programs and departments of the metropolitan area's many institutions of higher learning are covered, along with international organizations, U.S. and foreign government agencies, association and advocacy groups, scientific organizations, educational and cultural organizations, corporations, technical assistance organizations, religious organizations, publications and media operations, bookstores and online resources. An index of organizations and institutions enhances the Guide's usefulness.

.,."that rare thing, a piece of careful scholarship that is also superby entertaining...Starr, who is president of Oberlin College and has been associated with the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies, is also a professional jazz musician, and his knowledgeable affection for the music shines through the text." - Andrea Lee, New York Times Book Review

Eastern Turkestan, now known as Xinjiang, or the "New Territory," makes up a sixth of China's land mass. Absorbed by the Qing in the 1880s and reconquered by Mao in 1949, this Turkic-Muslim region of China's remote northwest borders on formerly Soviet Central Asia, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Mongolia, and Tibet. Will Xinjiang participate in China's twenty-first century ascendancy, or will nascent Islamic radicalism in Xinjiang expand the orbit of instability in a dangerous part of the world? This comprehensive survey of contemporary Xinjiang is the product of a major collaborative research project begun in 1998. The authors join their fieldwork experience, linguistic skills, and disciplinary expertise to assemble the first multifaceted introduction to Xinjiang. The volume surveys the region's geography; its history of military and political subjection to China; economic, social, and commercial conditions; demography, public health, and ecology; and patterns of adaptation, resistance, opposition, and evolving identities.

The collapse of the Soviet Union had the simultaneous effect of demolishing the international political order of the past half-century, with consequences for all sides. Western policy makers, no less than the leaders of the region, had to reorient themselves to a new world -- knowing that their actions might impact developments in unexpected ways.

This concluding volume of the International Politics of Eurasia series takes on the challenge of specifying the forces at work in the International environment of Russia and the New Independent States and gauging the impact of external actors on developments in this region. Among the topics covered are foreign and security policies; relationships with East Asian, Near Eastern, and Western States; and the impact of international economic and financial institutions, development assistance and advisory programs of various kinds, and aid organizations.

The collapse of the Soviet Union was part of a tumultuous process of imperial disintegration, new state-building, and potential imperial reconstruction unprecedented in recent decades. The daunting task of understanding the forces now in motion in Eurasia requires historical, comparative, interdisciplinary insights. This volume assembles an interdisciplinary group of scholars to construct, deconstruct, and reconstruct the Soviet empire in the context of Tsarist, Hapsburg, Ottoman, British, French and German precedents. Topics include: imperial development (Bruce Parrott and David Lake); imperial disintegration (Roman Szporluk, Soloman Wank and Michael Fry); peripheral successor states (Mark R. Bessinger, Dankwart A. Rustow, Robert I. Rotberg and Ali A. Mazrui); metropolitan successor states (S. Frederick Starr, Carole Find, Miles Kahler; and prospects (Hendrik Spruyt and Karen Dawisha).

The collapse of the Soviet Union was part of a tumultuous process of imperial disintegration, new state-building, and potential imperial reconstruction unprecedented in recent decades. The daunting task of understanding the forces now in motion in Eurasia requires historical, comparative, interdisciplinary insights. This volume assembles an interdisciplinary group of scholars to construct, deconstruct, and reconstruct the Soviet empire in the context of Tsarist, Hapsburg, Ottoman, British, French and German precedents. Topics include: imperial development (Bruce Parrott and David Lake); imperial disintegration (Roman Szporluk, Soloman Wank and Michael Fry); peripheral successor states (Mark R. Bessinger, Dankwart A. Rustow, Robert I. Rotberg and Ali A. Mazrui); metropolitan successor states (S. Frederick Starr, Carole Find, Miles Kahler; and prospects (Hendrik Spruyt and Karen Dawisha).

This volume covers the economic progress made by the new states of the former Soviet Union in the transition from command to market economies. Topics discussed include: political and economic adjustments; the domestic dimension; macropolicies; restructuring; and regional and world integration.

This volume covers the economic progress made by the new states of the former Soviet Union in the transition from command to market economies. Topics discussed include: political and economic adjustments; the domestic dimension; macropolicies; restructuring; and regional and world integration.

This ambitious ten-volume series develops a comprehensive analysis of the evolving world role of the post-Soviet successor states. Each volume considers a different factor influencing the relationship between internal politics and international relations in Russia and the western and southern tiers of newly independent states. The contributors were chosen not only for their recognized expertise but also to ensure a stimulating diversity of perspectives and a dynamic mix of approaches.

In this volume, international experts analyse the politics of conventional military policy and military relations among the Soviet successor states. The work analyses various national perspectives on security and approaches to military affairs.

This is the third volume in a series that presents analyses of the evolving world role of the post-Soviet successor states. Each volume considers a different factor influencing the relationship between internal politics and international relations.

This is the third volume in a series that presents analyses of the evolving world role of the post-Soviet successor states. Each volume considers a different factor influencing the relationship between internal politics and international relations.

This ambitious ten-volume series develops a comprehensive analysis of the evolving world role of the post-Soviet successor states. Each volume considers a different factor influencing the relationship between internal politics and international relations in Russia and the western and southern tiers of newly independent states. The contributors were chosen not only for their recognized expertise but also to ensure a stimulating diversity of perspectives and a dynamic mix of approaches.