Description
Connectivity, as well as conflict, characterizes Eurasia. This edited volume explores dynamic geopolitical and geo-economic links reconfiguring spaces from the eastern edge of Europe through the western edge of Asia, seeking explanation beyond description. The ancient Silk Road tied together space, much as pipelines, railroads, telecommunications infrastructure, and similar cultural and constructed links ease the mobility of people and products in modern Eurasia. This book considers Eurasia along an interlinked corridor, with chapters illustrating the connections as a discussion foundation focusing on the shared interactions of a set of nation states through time and across space, generating more positive considerations of the resurgently important region of Eurasia. China’s interests fall into three chapters: the southeastern border with Vietnam, the southwestern Himalayan edge, and the western Muslim regions. Russia’s recovery relates events to a larger landmass context and focuses on the importance of historic mobility. A geo-history of the Caspian considers this petroleum-rich area as a zone of cultural and economic interconnection. The final focus on Central Asia treats the traditional heart of “Eurasia”. The concluding chapter pulls together strands linking subregions for a new concept of “Eurasia” as an area linked by vital interests and overlapping histories.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: A Conceptual Overview Susan M. Walcott and Corey Johnson 2. Creating a Border Between China and Vietnam James Adams Anderson 3. Himalayan Hinterlands: Highland Axis of Asia Susan M. Walcott 4. Where Inner Asia Meets Outer China: the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China Stanley W. Toops 5. Russian Repositioning: Mobilities and the Eurasian Regional Concept Alexander C. Diener 6. Geographies of Obdurate Infrastructure in Eurasia: The Case of Natural Gas Corey Johnson 7. Islam as a Source of Unity and Division in Eurasia Matthew Derrick 8. Conclusion: Middle Ground Corey Johnson and Susan M. Walcott
