Raj Kumar Kothari (Vidyasagar): Russia's Policy towards Central Asia in the Post-Soviet Years. From NYRB, a review essay on why, and what, you should know about Central Asia by Ahmed Rashid. James L. Jones Jr. on why Central Asia can't be forgotten. Central Asia and its Russian dependence: Russia attempts to draw Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan back into its orbit. From The National Interest, Georgiy Voloshin on the Red Star over Central Asia; and Julia Famularo on the latest from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Seth Morgan on what it’s like to be Tajik. Natalya Ryabinska on new media and democracy in post-Soviet countries. Caucasus and Central Asia see robust growth, but risks remain. Rachel Stauffer reviews Understanding Central Asia: Politics and Contested Transformations by Sally M. Cummings. Ulugbeck Khasanov on Eurasia’s cross-border threats. From Eurasianet, Joshua Kucera on 2014 security risks in Eurasia: The experts weigh in; and on the U.S. in post-2014 Central Asia: New Silk Road or geopolitics. Kara Downey on why secular but illiberal governments are no guarantee of religious freedom: Recent calls to view post-Soviet Central Asia as a model for political development in the broader Muslim world overlook the fact hostility to religious extremism does not imply an embrace of liberal values. The first chapter from Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane by S. Frederick Starr. Nick Holdstock in Balykchy, a town that has good reason for Soviet nostalgia (and more); and this doctor in Kyrgyzstan says he can cure heroin addicts by putting them in a coma.
