Rating: 
Summary: A reporter's view of an old geopolitical game
Review: Anyone who is familiar with their history and of the "Great Game" played out in Central Asia between Russia and Great Britain will take heart that the game is back in play, albeit with a new cast of players. Today the precious commodity is oil, and in light of the demise of the former Soviet Union, a whole new cast of characters are activily engaged in competing for influence and the associated riches that will come with control of the oil resources.
One new facet of this game, that Kleveman highlights is the role multinational oil corporations play in the game. Whether you adhere to many of Kleveman's suggestions that much of what is done in this region is done at Big Oil's behest is subject to debate.
The book is well written..although I did note some factual errors, particularly with some of the military terminology that he uses. Book is very reminiscent of Eastward to Tartary...but overall a good read for anyone interested in the realpolitik of Central Asia.
Rating:
Summary: A reporter's view of an old geopolitical game
Review: Anyone who is familiar with their history and of the "Great Game" played out in Central Asia between Russia and Great Britain will take heart that the game is back in play, albeit with a new cast of players. Today the precious commodity is oil, and in light of the demise of the former Soviet Union, a whole new cast of characters are activily engaged in competing for influence and the associated riches that will come with control of the oil resources.
One new facet of this game, that Kleveman highlights is the role multinational oil corporations play in the game. Whether you adhere to many of Kleveman's suggestions that much of what is done in this region is done at Big Oil's behest is subject to debate.
The book is well written..although I did note some factual errors, particularly with some of the military terminology that he uses. Book is very reminiscent of Eastward to Tartary...but overall a good read for anyone interested in the realpolitik of Central Asia.
Rating: 
Summary: BeSt book I ever read!!!
Review: BesT book I ever read!!! Very enlightening and entertaining!
Rating:
Summary: part II of review
Review: China handles ethnic minorities with less bloodshed. Eastern Turkestan was conquered in the eighteenth century and renamed Xinjiang. Since it had value only as a buffer, China allowed the population to continue to speak Uighur, worship as Muslims, and support themselves in simple, pastoral poverty.
Two things changed. It was discovered that northern Xinjiang holds massive oil and gas reserves. And the mandarins in Beijing noticed that a pipeline across Xinjiang could bring Caspian oil to Shanghai.
China has moved rapidly to secure its sole Muslim province with the same methods that it is using in Tibet, methods honed in the earlier takeovers of Hunan, Sichuan, and most of the rest of what we think of as China proper. Unlike western imperialists, who have often left ethnic identities intact, the Chinese method is to move huge numbers of Han Chinese into the conquered territory. Resettle natives in ways that disrupt community. Reserve the best land and jobs for Han Chinese, while at the same time markedly improving the standards of living, educational, and economic opportunities of the natives. Then wait. Almost no one dies in the Chinese method of ethnic cleansing, but it does effectively terminate entire cultures. In a few generations, the culture and identity of the Muslim Uighurs will fade into history, like the cultures of over 50 other ethnic minority groups that linger at the margins of Chinese provinces where their ancestors flourished. Meanwhile, Uighur and perhaps Caspian oil will flow to the Chinese heartland.
Kleveman's book is a splendid introduction not only to the nations of the region, but to the politics of Caspian oil, but it is not always a reliable guide. Kleveman's profound, almost visceral distrust of American power regularly leads him to misstate fact.
Kleveman writes, for example, of an "Iran Air passenger plane shot down for no apparent reason by the American battleship U.S.S. Vincennes in 1987." Actually, while the incident was indeed a tragedy, there was a reason.
The Vincennes was in the Persian Gulf because of reports that Iran was positioning Chinese-made Silkworm missles near the Strait of Hormuz in a bid to control to control oil supplies. On the morning of July 3, one of Vincennes's helicopters was fired on by three Iranian gunboats. The Vincennes returned fire. Five minutes later, the Vincennes detected an aircraft taking off from the civilian-military Bandar Abbas airport. The ship radioed seven warnings to the plane, which apparently went unanswered. The ship's log shows that the Vincennes identified the plane as an F-14 approaching at an altitude of about 7,000 feet and descending.
The New Great Game is both a great read and an eye-opening introduction to the realpolitik of oil. It is weakened only by Kelveman's failure to perceive that Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, and several other nations are at least as willing as is the United States to lie, cheat, steal, and kill in the competition for oil.
Rating: 
Summary: yawn....
Review: For a Mamet play, this one sure was a let-down. The play deals with the relationship between two actors - one older and one younger. Occasionally the dialogue between the two is mildly interesting, but more often than not it is tedious and boring. The scenes are short and virtually interchangable with no real depth of character. If you've read one exchange between the characters, you've basically read them all. Only a Mamet fanatic would truly enjoy this work.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing New Here
Review: Great topic but you won't find anything here that you couldn't learn by simply reading the daily newspapers and international news magazines.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but........
Review: I found the first few chapters of this book quite interesting and well worth a read, I was however a little disapointed as the book went on.The last two chapters on Afgahnistan and Pakistan to be more or less fluff, as well as one or two other chapters that I felt the writer was just writing filler. Also I thought there would be alot more researched infomation, but it is very light on. Over all, a very easy read, some intersting bits and some stats on oil in the Central Asian region, but not as much as you would like.
Rating:
Summary: Pleasant read if it wasn't for the conspiracy theories
Review: Kleveman is very bright and worldly. However, his theories set forth in this book are far-fetched and lack support. If you are a conspiracy theorist, you'll love this book. If you are an objective, critical thinker, you'll feel like you wasted 20 bucks.
Rating:
Summary: The New "Really" Great Game
Review: Lutz Kleveman's "The New Great Game" is the best primer on Central Asia I've read. Kleveman gives the reader all the history, politics, geography, current status and prophecy that is essential to understand the region. This book should be read by every policymaker -- as well as featured in every college history or political science course taught. It is that good! I have read all of Tom Friedman's books; all of Robert Kaplan's books, two of Ahmed Rashid's; Mary Anne Weaver, Akbar Ahmed, Christopher Kremmer, Anne Nivat, Anna Politkovskaya, and Peter Hopkirk's original "Great Game." Save yourself the time and expense; they've got nothing over on this book -- it is the must read of them all! If Kaplan's "Balkan Ghosts" educated a President and a generation on the Balkans, Kleveman's "New Great Game" will do the same for Central Asia.
Rating:
Summary: The New "Really" Great Game
Review: Lutz Kleveman's "The New Great Game" is the best primer on Central Asia I've read. Kleveman gives the reader all the history, politics, geography, current status and prophecy that is essential to understand the region. This book should be read by every policymaker -- as well as featured in every college history or political science course taught. It is that good! I have read all of Tom Friedman's books; all of Robert Kaplan's books, two of Ahmed Rashid's; Mary Anne Weaver, Akbar Ahmed, Christopher Kremmer, Anne Nivat, Anna Politkovskaya, and Peter Hopkirk's original "Great Game." Save yourself the time and expense; they've got nothing over on this book -- it is the must read of them all! If Kaplan's "Balkan Ghosts" educated a President and a generation on the Balkans, Kleveman's "New Great Game" will do the same for Central Asia.
|
