This book is a collective effort with a single logical structure which covers a period between 1991 and the present. The authors analyze trends and processes taking place at the Southern flank of the CIS. In structuring the book the editors had in view to provide a comprehensive analysis of the current situation in those regions, which are revisiting their development models and trying to find appropriate place in the system of international relations. Apart from analysis of internal development processes in Central Asia and the Caucasian region, and the ethnical, confessional, social and economic situation there, special attention was given to the regions' interaction with international environment. In particular, the book contains chapters highlighting the role of the key external actors (USA, Turkey, Iran, China) affecting the Southern flank of CIS. Two chapters (covering political and economic aspects) are dedicated to Russia's activity in the South of CIS. Russia's part in the international context is also accentuated in relation to the Caspian issue. A separate chapter deals with the problems and the future of Russian-speaking population of Central Asian and Caucasian countries. Researchers specializing in the said regions may be interested in the chapter describing the «nuclear factor» in Central Asia; the chapter is an attempt to fill a serious gap in the coverage of this issue by Russian scholars.

The authors are professors of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO-University) under the Russian Foreign Ministry, representing a number of University Chairs: International Relations and Foreign Policy, Oriental Studies, International Law, World Culture, Indo-Iranian Languages, Global Political Processes, and World Economy.

Concept development and edition of the book were performed by Professor M. Narinsky (Head of the International Relations and Foreign Policy Chair and Director of the Center for Post-Soviet Studies at MGIMO-University; Doctor of History), and Associate Professor A. Malgin of the same Chair, who is also Deputy Director of the Center for Applied Sociological Studies. The writing of the chapters was generally completed by June, 2002.This edition can be recommended to a wide range of readers, and used in training courses on contemporary international relations, Orientalism, and regional subsystems.

back