The Role of Iran and the United States of America in Geopolitics of Central Asia

Yuldasheva, Guli, Andris Spruds, Diana Ptkomkina. The Role of Iran and the United States of America in Geopolitics of Central Asia. Riga: Latvian Institute of International Affairs, 2017.

This monograph by Dr. Guli Yuldasheva offers a fresh, detailed overview of geopolitical and geoeconomic (energy and transport-transit corridors) processes in modern Central Asia through the prism of the regional policies and mutual interaction of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States.

"Several writers have touched on the separate policies of Iran and of the United States in these five states: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. But until the appearance of Dr. Yuldasheva’s book, no one had considered the two together and in relation to one another. To Yuldasheva’s great credit she has moved beyond the slogans and clichés with which the strategies and policies of both countries are often described. Instead, she presents them in practical terms. In doing so she enables the reader to discern possibilities regarding their future trajectories that might not otherwise be apparent. Moreover, Yuldasheva has viewed the actions of both countries from the perspective of Central Asia. Unlike many earlier analysts, she assumes that Central Asia is a region in its own right, with its own distinctive interests and values.”—S. Frederick Starr, Founding Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program.