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AbstractSince 2003 and the establishment of Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government, Iran has witnessed a rise in ethnonationalist activity among its Kurdish population. Much of the motivation for this activity stems from the political success of the Kurds in Iraq. The spread of Iranian Kurdish nationalism has also been influenced by globalisation forces, such as global communications technologies, transnational networks, and increased mobility across borders. In this age of globalisation, the Iranian government's ability to rule over the Kurds will continue to erode, unless it caters toward Kurdish demands of minority rights.

Islamic banking and finance is on the rise and taking root in Central Asia. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and formation of new nation-states in 1991, Muslim republics in the region have witnessed a significant increase in Islamic financial institutions. Moreover, Islamic banking and finance has been viewed by Islamic scholars as an innovative way for the former Soviet republics of this region to form an economic bloc with other Islamic countries outside of Central Asia, ultimately leading to a greater market advantage in a competitive global economy. One of the keys to accessing global markets is by sponsoring national and regional socioeconomic development, and liberal economic reform. The prevailing Soviet legacy in these Muslim republics, especially the notion of a centrally-planned economy, has greatly hindered such development. However, with the advent of Islamic banking and finance, the Muslim republics of Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus have already experienced a significant boost in socioeconomic development that will hopefully continue long into the future. Throughout the twentieth century, Islam was an important cultural and religious outlet for the people of Central Asia despite its repression under Communist rule. As the Muslim republics of this region grow more exposed to new forces of global change, including market forces, a communications and information revolution, as well as radical Islam, their governments are struggling to adapt and create new political and economic structures to survive in an increasingly interconnected world. Under these new pressures of global change, many regional rulers have clung even stronger to their previous modes and methods of governing under a command economy and one-party political system, while other leaders have attempted to liberalize national markets in a global economy. The Soviet legacy continues to plague the modern development of most former Soviet republics in Central Asia, making it more complicated for the penetration of Islamic banking and finance to the region. Nevertheless, with the assistance of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, there has been a noteworthy increase of Islamic banking and finance in the region. This article examines the important role of the IDB in promoting socioeconomic development across the region. Moreover, a majority of the Central Asian and South Caucasian republics view Islamic banking and financial institutions as important outlets through which to channel the energies of radical Islamic opposition groups. Despite witnessing moderate success in the region, the IDB has confronted significant obstacles in its promotion and development of Islamic financial institutions for regional governments because of the strong Soviet legacy and precarious political situations that prevail. Even with the persistence of their Soviet past, Muslim states in the region are experiencing a growth in Islamic banking and finance. In the last decade, Islamic banking and finance have become significant forces for positive change in the region. The IDB acts as an important instrument of legitimacy for the ruling elite and neo-nomenklatura of the region who continue to experience a rise in opposition from radical Islamic forces. For the purposes of this article, the rise of Islamic banking and finance will be compared among the six Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Each has incorporated Islamic banking and finance to varying degrees depending on the nature of its political system and economy in the post-Soviet era. The IDB has acted as the primary catalyst in this process of incorporation. It has most successfully entered the financial services sector of the economy in countries that have adopted more liberal economic reforms, most importantly Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. In any case, for both of these countries it will be shown that the IDB has had to deal with the complex politics of a rentier state that have developed over the past decade due to the rise of oil and gas revenues. States are classified as rentier states when a substantial portion of the national revenue is generated from a local natural resource like oil or natural gas. In order for Islamic banking and finance to take a stronger hold in these countries, as well as in other regional rentier states like Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, it is believed that the political ruling elite must be involved in the formation and subsequent financial benefits of Islamic banking and finance.

The first book to weave Eurasia together through the perspective of the oceans and seas. Eurasia's emerging powers-India, China, and Russia-have increasingly embraced their maritime geographies as they have expanded and strengthened their economies, military capabilities, and global influence. Maritime Eurasia, a region that facilitates international commerce and contains some of the world's most strategic maritime chokepoints, has already caused a shift in the global political economy and challenged the dominance of the Atlantic world and the United States. Climate change is set to further affect global politics. With meticulous and comprehensive field research, Geoffrey Gresh considers how the melting of the Arctic ice cap will create new shipping lanes and exacerbate a contest for the control of Arctic natural resources. He explores as well the strategic maritime shifts under way from Europe to the Indian Ocean and Pacific Asia. The race for great power status and the earth's changing landscape, Gresh shows, are rapidly transforming Eurasia and thus creating a new world order

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction-Gulf National Security and the Politics of Basing -- 1. Oil and War -- 2. Negotiating a Foothold -- 3. Regime Survival and the U.S. Military -- 4. A Light Footprint in Bahrain -- 5. Sultan Qaboos and Operation Eagle Claw -- 6. A Saudi Sandstorm: Revolution, Rivalry, and Terrorism -- Conclusion-The GCC Today and Lessons Learned for the U.S. Military -- Notes -- Bibliography of Primary Sources -- Index

The first book to weave Eurasia together through the perspective of the oceans and seas.

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Maps -- 1 Eurasia's New Great Power Competition at Sea -- 2 Russia, Maritime Europe, and the Emergence of the Black and Baltic Seas -- 3 Vying for the Mediterranean -- 4 Anchoring the Seas of Southwest Asia -- 5 The Indian Ocean as Arena -- 6 China's Maritime Silk Road and the South China Sea -- 7 Rising Competition and Navalism in East Asia -- 8 Maritime Eurasia's Future Frontier: The Arctic -- 9 Heightened Maritime Competition and Shifting Seas -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Index

Intro -- Dedication -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Notes on Editors and Contributors -- List of Figures and Maps -- Chapter 1: Introduction: Why Maritime Eurasia? -- Analytical Framework -- Volume Overview -- The Indian Ocean -- Pacific Asia -- The Arctic and the Future of the World's Oceans -- Part I -- Chapter 2: Strategic Maritime Chokepoints: Perspectives from the Global Shipping and Port Sectors -- Strategic Maritime Chokepoints -- Global Shipping Industry -- Global Port Operators and Maritime Support Services -- Malacca Straits -- Strait of Gibraltar -- Suez Canal -- Importance of Strategic Chokepoints to Maritime Industries -- Conclusion -- Chapter 3: Chokepoints of the Western Indian Ocean, China's Maritime Silk Route, and the Future of Regional Security -- Vital Maritime Chokepoints -- A Thirst for Energy: Economic Impetus -- The Emergence of a Chinese Maritime Silk Route -- The Bab el-Mandeb and Djibouti: Security at the Source -- The Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf Arab Monarchies -- Conclusion: Shifting Security Dynamics and the Future of Regional Security -- Chapter 4: The Economics of Somali Counterpiracy: Assessing Counterpiracy Measures for International Shipping Companies -- The Somali Case Study -- The State of Shipping -- The Economics of Counterpiracy -- Rerouting -- Speeding -- Insurance -- Hardening -- Private Maritime Security Companies -- Do Nothing -- Conclusions and Decision-Making -- Implications -- Chapter 5: The Rise of an Indo-Japanese Maritime Partnership -- Hazards in Common -- Maritime High Ground -- Indo-Pacific Partners -- Over the Horizon -- Chapter 6: The Fastest Way Across the Seas: Cyberspace Operations and Cybersecurity in the Indo-Pacific -- The Internet in Asia -- The Context of a Maritime Cyberattack -- Global Flows, Vulnerable Code -- Asia, a Region in Transition -- Conclusion: Way Forward.

The United States must now confront a new and emerging dynamic as most Gulf Cooperation Council countries have begun to increasingly diversify their political, economic, and security partnerships to include China. For Gulf Arab monarchies, the choice of security or economic partner is made more complicated by increased domestic and regional instability stemming in part from Iraq, Syria, and Iran. Understanding the shifting economic and political alliances is vitally important for understanding the future of regional security and politics. This article examines Gulf Arab national security—particularly through the case of Saudi Arabia—and how the Gulf monarchies have increasingly bolstered their economic and political partnerships with China in recent years due in part to widespread anti-U.S. sentiment and the threat of domestic upheaval. It looks specifically at how Gulf national security can be shaped by internal versus external threats and what this means for the future of regional security.

The dawn of the Cold War marked a new stage of complex U.S. foreign policy involvement in the Middle East. More recently, globalization and the region's ongoing conflicts and political violence have led to the U.S. being more politically, economically, and militarily enmeshed - for better or worse-throughout the region.0This book examines the emergence and development of U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East from the early 1900s to the present. With contributions from some of the world's leading scholars, it takes a fresh, interdisciplinary, and insightful look into the many antecedents that led to current U.S. foreign policy. Exploring the historical challenges, regional alliances, rapid political change, economic interests, domestic politics, and other sources of regional instability, this volume comprises critical analysis from Iranian, Turkish, Israeli, American, and Arab perspectives to provide a comprehensive examination of the evolution and transformation of U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East. This volume is an important resource for scholars and students working in the fields of Political Science, Sociology, International Relations, Islamic, Turkish, Iranian, Arab, and Israeli Studies

"The dawn of the Cold War marked a new stage of complex U.S. foreign policy involvement in the Middle East. More recently, globalization and the regions ongoing conflicts and political violence have led to the U.S. being more politically, economically, and militarily enmeshed for better or worsethroughout the region.This book examines the emergence and development of U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East from the early 1900s to the present. With contributions from some of the worlds leading scholars, it takes a fresh, interdisciplinary, and insightful look into the many antecedents that led to current U.S. foreign policy. Exploring the historical challenges, regional alliances, rapid political change, economic interests, domestic politics, and other sources of regional instability, this volume comprises critical analysis from Iranian, Turkish, Israeli, American, and Arab perspectives to provide a comprehensive examination of the evolution and transformation of U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East. This volume is an important resource for scholars and students working in the fields of Political Science, Sociology, International Relations, Islamic, Turkish, Iranian, Arab, and Israeli Studies."--Provided by publisher.