The New Central Asia: The Creation of Nations

by Olivier Roy

Release Date: May, 2000

Edition: Hardcover

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Caution to the reader

I purchased this book after I developed an increasing interest in the politics and history of Central Asia. At that point, I had read a couple of books on the topic, leaving me with a feeling of general competence. This book, however, was seriously beyond my level of knowledge, and I'd like to caution readers with anything below a superior understanding of Soviet and Central Asian History. The author "jumps" around the region quite a bit, creating problems which compound themselves, particularly as no maps are included anywhere in the book. If you do not possess an intimate knowledge of the geography, I suggest waiting until your mental map is more complete (as I'll be doing).
The book is translated from French. After reading about 20 pages, this fact amazed me from the vocabularly chosen by the translator. I can't remember the last time I had to use a dictionary, but this book sent me searching on more than one occasion. Moreover, the writing style is incredibly dry, even for a work of history. "New Central Asia" is loaded with solid research and cogent argumentation, but the presentation leaves much to be desired.

Making Sense of Central Asia

Olivier Roy is a well-known expert on Islam, the Arab world and Central Asia. His The New Central Asia is an excellent examination of the creation of new nations that emerged from the end of the Soviet Union in 1992. He contends that while these new republics are in search of identity (in essence creating new nationalisms), they have also inherited the older Soviet system of rule and institutions, which were not democratic and more oriented to personality cults and heavy-handed treatment of the opposition. This explains the difficult path countries such as Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have had through the 1990s and into the next decade. For anyone looking at the problems of development as well as wishing to obtain a better understanding of a pivotal geo-political zone, Roy's well-researched book is worth the read.