1st Edition

Identity and Politics in Central Asia and the Caucasus

Edited By Mohammed Ayoob, Murad Ismayilov Copyright 2015
    224 Pages 5 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    224 Pages 5 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The multicultural region of Central Eurasia is living through its early post-independence years and as such serves as an ideal case to study and analyse theories of identity and foreign policy in a non-European context. Looking to re-introduce identity as a multidimensional factor informing state behaviour, this book analyses the experiences of the different Central Eurasian states in their post-independence pursuits.

    The book is structured into two broadly defined sections, with the first half examining the different ways in which the combination of domestic, regional, international and trans-national forces worked to advance one national identity over the others in the states that comprise the region of post-Soviet Central Eurasia. In the second half, chapters analyse the many ways in which identity, once shaped, affected foreign policy behaviours of the regional states, as well as the overall security dynamics in the region. The book also looks at the ways in which identity, by doing so, enjoys an intricate, mutually constitutive relationship with the strategic context in which it bears its effects on the state and the region. Finally, given the special role Russia has historically played in defining the evolutionary trajectory of the regional states, the book discusses the ways in which Russia itself and its post-cold war policies towards its former colonies have been conditioned by factors associated with Russia’s evolving post-Soviet identity.

    Placing the region firmly within existing theories of identity and state practices, the book will be of interest to students and scholars of Central Asian Politics, Security Studies, Foreign Policy and International Relations.

     

    Introduction: Identity as a source and an output of foreign policy and regional security in post-Soviet Central Eurasia: Towards integrating nationalism scholarship into IR constructivism Murad Ismayilov PART I: Nation-building and emerging identities in post-Soviet Central Eurasia 1. Threat perceptions of Islam in a post-communist secular context: Public policies towards Islamic finance in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan and the effects on nation-building Fuad Aliyev 2. Language and sovereignty: A comparative analysis of language policy in Tatarstan and Kazakhstan, 1991-2010 Kyle L. Marquardt 3.Identity recovered vs. identity redefined: Three post-Soviet cases Paul Goble 4. Domesticating elite education: Raising patriots and educating Kazakhstan’s future Natalie Koch PART II: From identity to foreign policy back to identity 5. Russian foreign policy toward Central Asia and the Caucasus since the end of the Cold War: A search for identity with geopolitical characteristics Norman A. Graham 6. International commitments to elections and election observation in the Caucasus and Central Asia: The interplay between political identity, foreign policy and regional affiliation Rick Fawn 7. Identity and alignment in Central Eurasia S. Neil MacFarlane 8. International cultural engagements and their domestic effects: Eurovision and nation-building in Azerbaijan Murad Ismayilov

    Biography

    Mohammed Ayoob is University Distinguished Professor of International Relations at Michigan State University, USA.

    Murad Ismayilov is Doctoral Researcher in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge, UK and Research Fellow at ADA University (previously Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy), Azerbaijan.