I have always wondered how long do you guys think the -istans of central asia will remain independent ?
Any chance of their joining togather to form one state lie enver pasha dreamed of
Which power apart from Russia will be successful in gaining influence in this vital region?
Will Shai-sunni disputes play a role in politics in this region?
Any chance of a islamic theocratic state emerging from this region?
Re: Central asian states
The thing you gotta know about these CAS is that majority of them are only free on paper (true they are not part of USSR) as they have the same old dictators who are ruling them now espousing nationalistic causes instead of communist ones!
This region will gain in importance (more orange revolutions anyone??? 
) as there is much oil/gas to be exported through turkey, russia and or the tap route.
Except azerbaijan, i think the rest are all sunni. I think they are hanafi but someone told me shafa’i? so not sure..
Re: Central asian states
^
yup.. the rulers are same ppl who once used to be memebers of the communist party.
the recent unrest in andejan highlighted a growing trend(or was it hyped by the media?)towards islam.
the american bases in afghanistan are a step closer to gaining more control on this region's rich resources in oil and gas,according to one theory,.
Re: Central asian states
Russia continues to maintain several divisions in many of these states,any possibility of chinease influence replacing the russians?
Is India interested there?
Re: Central asian states
India offcourse had an edge over Pakistan due to the Cold War politics and also Pakistan’s support of Taliban which the nationalist-commies didn’t like it up there.
Anyway, Pakistan is more important geostrategically to CARs than India so lets see how things turn out!!!