The Central Asia-Afghanistan relationship: from Soviet intervention to the Silk Road Initiatives

This collection provides a broad analysis of Afghanistan and its neighbors in recent decades and investigates the various historical and political contexts into which the region has been placed. It examines the legacy of Soviet intervention, patterns of cooperation and conflict among regional states, and recent US strategic initiatives.

Introduction / Marlène Laruelle -- Part I. The legacy of the Soviet intervention -- Central Asian soldiers and the Soviet war in Afghanistan: an introduction / Artemy M. Kalinovsky -- A oral history of the Soviet-Afghan War: interviews with Central Asian Afgantsy / Marlène Laruelle, Botagoz Rakisheva, Gulden Ashkenova, and Artemy M. Kalinovsky -- Part II. Afghanistan's northern neighbors: perceptions and challenges -- Afghanistan's multicentered regional foreign policy / Antonio Giustozzi -- Russia's policy on Afghanistan / Ekaterina Stepanova -- Assessing Uzbekistan's and Tajikistan's Afghan policies: the impact of domestic drivers / Marlene Laruelle -- Insurgent activities at the Afghan-Turkmen and Afghan-Tajik borders / Bruce Pannier -- Part III. The Silk Road Initiative as a US project for Central Asia and Afghanistan -- Parsing mobilities in Central Eurasia / Alexander C. Diener -- The US Silk Road: geopolitical imaginary or the repackaging of strategic interests? / Marlène Laruelle -- The new Silk Road Initiative's questionable economic rationality / Sebastien Peyrouse and Gaël Raballand