Civil Society in Central Asia

CentralAsia,knownasthehomeofTamerlaneandtheSilkRoad,isacrossroadsofgreatculturesandcivilizations.In1991fivenationsattheheartoftheregion--Kazakstan,Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan,Turkmenistan,andUzbekistan--suddenlybecameindependent.TodaytheysitstrategicallybetweenRussia,China,andIranandholdsomeoftheworld'slargestdepositsofoilandnaturalgas.Long-suppressedethnicidentitiesarefindingnewexpressioninlanguage,religion,andoccasionalcivilconflicts.CivilSocietyinCentralAsiaisapathbreakingcollectionofessaysbyscholarsandactiviststhatilluminatesthesocialandinstitutionalforcesshapingthisimportantregion'sfuture.Anappendixprovidesaguidetoprojectsbeingcarriedoutbylocalandinternationalgroups.