Regionalism in Central Asia: New Geopolitics, Old Regional Order

Behind the rhetoric of regional cooperation, the Central Asian states have been embroiled with increasing frequency in conflicts among themselves, including trade wars, border disputes and disagreements over the management and use of water and energy resources. Far from engendering a new regional order in Central Asia, the events of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent basing of US troops in the region have served to entrench pre-existing patterns of regional cooperation, while highlighting the obstacles that have beset the regionalization process there since the mid-1990s. While all five Central Asian states have been attempting to use the renewed rivalry between Russia and the United States, which is being played out in the Central Asian region, to maximize their strategic and economic benefits, the formation of the United States–Uzbekistan strategic partnership has increased the resolve of the other Central Asian states (Turkmenistan excepted) to balance Uzbekistan's preponderance by enthusiastically pursuing regional projects involving Russia and, to a lesser extent, China. This regional dynamic has resulted in the steady gravitation of the centre of regionalism in Central Asia to the north from a nominal Tashkent–Astana axis to a more stable Astana–Moscow one, with possible repercussions for the poorer states of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The article examines the major constraints on regionalism in Central Asia, considering in particular the ways in which the personalist, non-democratic regimes of Central Asia have obstructed state–centric 'top–down' regionalism as well as informal regionalist processes 'from below'.     

东南亚史研究的新史料、新方法和新视角——以哈里·本达奖获奖著作为例

哈里·本达奖是美国亚洲研究学会旨在表彰东南亚研究领域杰出成果的国际学术大奖,代表了当代国际学界东南亚历史研究的重要成果。本达奖获奖著作涵盖东南亚殖民主义史、社会史、文化史等领域,并不断拓展到宗教史、女性史等专题史研究,反映第二次世界大战后东南亚史研究范式的重大转向,并从史料、方法、视角领域探讨了东南亚历史发展的本土性、自主性与能动性。获奖作品在当代东南亚史研究领域的理论探讨与实践研究方面都做出了积极贡献,值得中国东南亚史学界进一步学习与借鉴。