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pp. 253, “Since the late nineteenth century, geopolitical strategists have emphasized the value of controlling the “world island” of Eurasia; the key to mastery of that island is control, directly or indirectly, of the Central Asian heartland that stretches from the Causasus to the Chinese border. Meyer, the editor of World Policy Journal, traces the various struggles by outside powers to control this vital region, illuminating the culture and history of the various peoples that have invaded, conquered, and settled in these diverse lands. His analysis of the efforts of Russia first to resist the onslaught of central Asian nomads and then to subdue and pacify them is both astute and essential to understanding the complex relationships that have followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. “