ABSTRACT

This book, first published in 1990, considers the uneasy relationship between Russia and Soviet Central Asia. Chapters examine both the significance of Asia to the Russian mind and the place that Asia has occupied in Russian geopolitical thinking in the last hundred years, showing that outbreaks of violence are simply a manifestation of a long-standing tension. This is a remarkable and comprehensive study, which will be of great value to those concerned with the history and future of Central Asia and Siberia.

chapter 1|17 pages

Introduction: What Is Asia to Us?

part I|47 pages

Asia and the Russians

chapter 2|17 pages

Russian Ideology and Asia

chapter 3|11 pages

Historians and Geographers

chapter 4|17 pages

Easterners and Eurasianists

part II|65 pages

Russia's Central Asian Heartland

chapter 5|63 pages

Russia's Drive South

part III|122 pages

The Heartland Debate

chapter 9|25 pages

The Heartland Revisited

Geopolitics In Soviet Perspective

chapter 11|11 pages

In Place of Conclusions

What is Asia to Gorbachev's Russia?