Customer Reviews

The Post-Soviet Decline of Central Asia: Sustainable Development and Comprehensive Capital (Central Asia Research Forum)

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Given the breadth of the issues covered, the abundance of sources, and the insightfulness of analysis, this is probably as good as it gets in terms of scholarly writings about Central Asia these days. Unlike many of his western colleagues, Sievers is multi-lingual, and he takes full advantage of this: his coverage of sources is virtually unprecedented in the English-language literature on the region. Although written by a lawyer, this book is not a legal treatise. A sweeping account of the great expectations nurtured in the region in the early 1990s and the grand failures that ensued thereafter, this volume is a true eye-opener for the Anglophone public as well as a useful addition to the personal library of a student and a scholar alike. Whether he deals with civil society reforms or environmental regimes, Sievers is thoughtful and encyclopedic about his subject. Not only does he describe the experience of Central Asian states during their first decade of independence with enviable insight and commendable accuracy, but he also unhesitatingly challenges the many myths so uncritically popularized by other scholars. The fact that it is easily readable adds further value to Sievers' work.