Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, a number of linkages have been established between newly independent Central Asian states, or populations within them, and diaspora ethnic groups. This book explores the roles that diaspora communities play in the recent and ongoing emergence of national identities in Central Asia and the Caucasus.
The loyalties of these communities are divided between their countries of residence and those states that serve as homeland of their particular ethno-cultural nation, and are further complicated by connections with contested transnational notions of common cultures and 'peoples'. Written by highly respected experts in the field, the book addresses issues such as nationalism, conflict, population movement, global civil society, Muslim communities in China and relations between the new nation-states and Russia.
This innovative book will interest students and researchers of transnationalism and Central Asian studies.

Touraj Atabaki is Senior Research Fellow at the International Institute of Social History, Professor of Modern History at the University of Amsterdam and Professor of Iranian and Central Asian studies at the University of Utrecht.
Sanjyot Mehendale is Executive Director of the Caucasus and Central Asia Program at the University of California at Berkeley. She is also the director of the Uzbek-Berkeley Archaeological Mission.

1. Introduction: Transnationalism and Diaspora in Central Asia and the Causaus 2. Nationalism from Without: Theorizing the Role of Diaporas in Contemporary Conflict 3. Towards a Typology of Diasporas in Kazakhstan 4. Russians in Post-Soviet Central Asia: Issues and Concerns State, Homeland, and Diapora: The Armenian and Azerbaijani Cases 6. Diaspora and Global Civil Society: The Impact of Transnational Diasporic Activism on Armenia's Post-Soviet Transition 7. Afghan Communities in Uzbekistan: A Preliminary Case Study 8. Uighur Community in 1990s Central Asia: A Decade of Change