While security concerns have assumed salience across the globe, Afghanistan’s proximity to Central Asia has meant that security or perceptions of insecurity dominate the strategic discourse in the region. Issues that stand out include the challenges that the Central Asian states will face in terms of stability, ethnic tensions, radicalization of youth, destabilization of commodity flows and energy security and the impact that these could have on Central Asian society. However, security cannot just be defined in terms of security at the borders. It needs to be defined in ‘cosmopolitan’ terms through an array of issues like movements across borders, radicalism within states, the sharing of water, and various multilateral attempts at combating insecurity. This volume is an attempt to focus on some of these issues that reflect on perceptions of security principally from Indian and Uzbek positions. It examines shifts over the last two decades, from debates on the geopolitical importance of the region from a great game perspective to the salience of new engagements within the international arena.

Western military presence wanes in Afghanistan and a transformed security environment challenges borders and stability in Central Asia. This book examines how the tensions relating to the reorganization of external military presence interact with regional states’ ambitions and challenge the borders already contested by numerous dividing lines. It studies a complex political landscape across which radical Islam connected with international terrorism is feared to spread as the international mission initiated in the wake of the 9/11 attacks winds down.

The breakup of the USSR created a Central Asian security complex or sphere of influence consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, this security complex has tended to distance itself from a Russian-centered approach to foreign relations, has rejected involvement with a Turkey-oriented sphere of influence, and has shifted toward an Iran-oriented security complex. A major reason for these developments has been the activities of the three rival powers—Iran, Turkey, and Russia. As Peimani explains, these states have strong long-term interests in the region; earlier rivalries, which were dormant under Soviet rule, have reawakened since the breakup of the USSR. While Russia attempts to reincorporate Central Asia into its security complex, Iran and Turkey seek to include it in their spheres of influence. The rivalry among these states will largely determine the future development of the region and the individual states.

This volume is the first comprehensive scholarly analysis of the strategic reconfiguration of Central Asia as Russia has become more disengaged from the nations in the region and as these nations have developed new relations to the south, east, and west. The international implications are enormous because of the rich energy sources—oil and natural gas—located in the Caspian Sea area. The authors assess a variety of internal security policy challenges confronting these states—for example, the potential for conflict arising from such factors as a mixed ethnic population, resource scarcity, particularly in relation to water management, and an Islamic revival. They also examine the security policy content of relations between the Central Asian states and regional and international powers—specifically the stakes, interests, and policies of Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, and the United States. These internal challenges and the evolution of relations with external powers may result in new cooperative relationships, but they may also lead to destabilizing rivalry and interstate enmity in Central Asia. It is important to identify new patterns of relevance for future security cooperation in the region, but the potential for a new security system or for new institutions to manage security in the region remains uncertain. These issues are explored by a team of prominent specialists from Western Europe, the United States, Russia and China.

Published in association with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Instability in Afghanistan has had a considerable effect on regional security in Central Asia, particularly in the aftermath of the events of 9/11, and this has meant that the importance of NATO and its contribution to security in this area has increased considerably. A detailed analysis of this topic is precisely important because it could highlight the areas where the Central Asian countries could increase their security contributions to Afghanistan’s security through enhancing their cooperation with NATO. This book presents the fully revised and updated versions of papers presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW), 'NATO, the Fight against International Terrorism in Afghanistan and Security Situation in Central Asia since 9/11', held in Ankara, Turkey, in April 2011. This ARW was supported by the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme. The book takes a comprehensive approach to the regional security complex in Central Asia by emphasizing the human security, socio-political and energy dimensions in addition to the traditional military dimension of the fight against international terrorism in and around Afghanistan. The findings of the book enhance our understanding of the root causes of international terrorism and the effective ways of coping with the security challenges in this region. The book is divided into five parts: First, NATO’s Contribution to Lasting Security in Afghanistan; Second, Responses of the Central Asian States to Political Instability, Organized Crime and International Terrorism in Afghanistan; Third, Energy Security in and around Central Asia; Fourth, International Competition and Co-operation over Afghanistan and Central Asia; and Last but not least, Regional Security Organizations and the Fight against International Terrorism in Afghanistan.