The Dust of Empire: The Race for Mastery in The Asian Hearthland

Rating:
Summary: Good book. Interesting reading but somehow meanders!
Review: If you want a cursory introduction into the Central Asian nations, and why these nations are so vital to understanding the problems of today, this is a good book to start.

Meyer wrote a book called the "Tournament of Shadows" about the race of the Great Empires (Russia, and Britain primarily) to controal the vast steppes that were home to Genghiz Khan.

Meyer decsribes the main players in the area including Iran, Russia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Please note that Meyer ignores Turkey which of course has a natural influence on these nations because of the pan-Turkic nature of so many of the nations in Central Asia.

Overall Meyer educates the reader on how the British, Russian and now the Americans have tried to influence the area. Meyer's overall thesis seems to imply that the more the great imperial nations have tried to influence the nations of Central Asia,the worse the outcome has ultimately been. For example he argues that perhaps our help of the muhajadeen in Afghanistan during the 1980's only produced a cadre of fighters who became enemies of the US once we abandoned interest in that nation after the colapse of the Soviet Union.

Meyer, in my opinion, weakens his book by making meandering point s about the current Bush administration and other items of interest. For example, the 2000 election here in the US seems to have little to do with the cursory historical examination of Central Asia. Furthermore, whether the current administration is "multilateral" or not has little to do with whether or not we as a nation make a serious inroad into influencing these nations.

Meyer's final points about the level of interest Americans do not have towards this area is absolutely true however. Many analysts have pointed out that Central Asia is going to become host to a new "Great Game" because of the resources available in along the Silk road. Oil reserves, natural gas and the quixoitic lure of Islam beckons a siren call for nations such as the United States, Russia, China, Iran and Turkey.
As recent events in Ossentia have transpired these analysts may be correct.

Meyer is an effective writer and conveys the sense of history of Central Asia very well. This should be a welcome addition to your reading about this subject.