Uradyn E. Bulag (Hunter): Where is East Asia? Central Asian and Inner Asian Perspectives on Regionalism. From TNR, a review of Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present by Christopher I. Beckwith. Central Asia was once the “land of a thousand cities” and home to some of the world’s most renowned scientists, poets, and philosophers; today it is seen mostly as a harsh backwater. A review of Out of Steppe: The Lost Peoples of Central Asia by Daniel Metcalfe (and more). From Asia Times, a look at how the US is stepping up its Central Asian tango. An article on the battle of the bases in Central Asia. An article on Kyrgyzstan: How America gained a base and lost a country. An article on Kyrgyzstan, the heartbreak capital of Central Asia — seeming in the mid-2000s to be moving towards democracy, now descending into authoritarianism, and a contender for the title of most obscure former Soviet republic becoming prime real estate. Courting Turkmenistan: How Central Asia's "hermit kingdom" became the biggest prize in Europe's energy wars. Kristen Hoggatt had never heard of Uzbekistan, but she felt so guilty for being alive that she just wanted to work somewhere, anywhere (and more). The Silk Road unravels: Along the historic route that facilitated the movement of trade, ideas and cultures, governments are playing politics with an endangered history.
