1st Edition
Fostering Fundamentalism Terrorism, Democracy and American Engagement in Central Asia
Is the United States, in its fight against terror and pursuit of Osama Bin Laden, recklessly creating conditions in Central Asia to produce the next Bin Laden? Matthew Crosston studies this controversial argument in his political analysis of US foreign policy on Central Asia. He looks specifically at the 'no-man's land nexus' connecting Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and the heart of Central Asian Islamic radicalism - the Fergana Valley. This book breaks new ground by examining in unflinching detail the unwitting role US foreign policy plays in fomenting that 'hot zone' and extremism, producing a new generation of Islamic radicals. University courses that deal with US foreign policy, international security, terrorism and/or Eurasian politics will want to make this book required reading.
Biography
Matthew Crosston is Professor of International Relations and Comparative Politics at Clemson University, USA. He specializes in the problems of democratization, terrorism and corruption and has been invited to speak throughout Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. He has a PhD from Brown University with additional degrees from the University of London and Colgate University.
'Well-structured, consistently interesting and attention-grabbing. This is a hard-hitting critique of current American foreign policy - as opposed to the fence-sitting, anti-normative material many political scientists feel they ought to write - and the author's warnings are sobering and refreshingly up-to-date. Fostering Fundamentalism is also an excellent guide to developments in a region many readers will know little about but which is nevertheless critical to the "war on terrorism".' David Patrick Houghton, University of Central Florida, USA '... thoroughly researched and finely crafted... [the author] also provides an up-to-date, highly informative account of sociopolitical conditions... Highly recommended.' Choice ''This work exists to call attention to the fact that our stalwart pursuit of present-day terrorism has been done in a way that will [...] in fact enable the reemergence of transnational terrorist groups and give them the arguments needed to attract new legions to the cause' so concludes author Matthew Crosston (p. 162). He provides the reader with a detailed case study of how the repressive policies of the three nations that border the Ferghana Valley in Central Asia dovetail with our own nation’s diplomatic naiveté, and how these facts contribute to this conclusion. Extensive chapter notes and the author’s own first-hand interviews with regional officials buttress his conclusion. Maps, tables, and supportive figures make the argument additionally compelling and assist the reader. An appendix of web links for Central Asia will aid those desiring more information and a brief index conclude the work... The strength of this volume is the author’s complete command of the socio-political facts within the region. He documents the regional illustration of an age-old truth: repression of any religion by a nation only fuels their spiritual power and social appeal... this is precisely the kind of serious and gritty immersion in the political and s
