Central Asia and Xinjiang, the far northwestern province of China, are of increasing international importance. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the region's significance historically, of the contemporary international forces which affect the region, and of current political, economic and cultural developments.

1: China, Xinjiang and Central Asia - 'Glocality' in the Year 2007 - Donald H. McMillen. 2: The 'Centrality' of Central Asia in World History, 1700-2007: From pivot to periphery and back again? - Michael Clarke. 3: Positioning Xinjiang in Eurasian and Chinese History: Differing Visions of the 'Silk Road' - James A. Millward. 4: 'Failed States' on the 'Perilous Frontier': Historical Bases of State Formation in Afghanistan and Central Asia - Geoff Watson. 5: Xinjiang and Central Asia: Interdependency - Not Integration - Ann McMillan. 6: Uyghurs in the Central Asian Republics: Past and Present - Ablet Kamalov. 7: Xinjiang and Central Asia since 1990: Views from Beijing and Washington and Sino-American Relations - Colin Mackerras. 8: Central Asia's Domestic Stability in Official Russian Security Thinking under Yeltsin and Putin: from Hegemony to Multilateral Pragmatism - Kirill Nourzhanov. 9: 'Glocality', 'Silk Roads' and New and Little 'Great Games' in Xinjiang and Central Asia - Michael Clarke