Review by Choice Review
This book is marked by three features. The first is its ability to bridge three geographic areas--Central Asia, Iran, and Turkey--with breadth of coverage regarding countries. Regrettably, this tendency also means that the book is organized almost entirely by state rather than by the many pressing problems confronting politicians and publics across national boundaries; environmental concerns, for example, are all but bypassed throughout the book. Second is the contributors' unfortunate tendency to be descriptive and provide historical and recent background at the expense of analysis and prediction. Third is the willingness of nearly all the contributors to employ jargon and implicit frameworks better suited to the Cold War period. Everyone competes for power and influence, and although the actors may be new, the editors and many contributors seem to say, the approach need not be. Mesbahi's chapter on Iran and Tajikistan is a welcome exception. There is a single map, an insufficient index, and no bibliography. Upper-division undergraduates might find this volume a useful introduction for its survey of recent events in the region, but better treatments are bound to be forthcoming. R. L. Moses; Johns Hopkins University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
