In this new edition of his acclaimed book, Olivier Roy examines the political development of Central Asia, from the Russian conquests to the ‘War on Terror’ and beyond.During the anti-Gorbachev coup in August 1991, most communist leaders from Soviet Central Asia backed the plotters. Within weeks of the coup’s collapse, these very same leaders - now transformed into ardent nationalists - proclaimed the independence of their nations, designed new flags, invented new slogans and discovered a new patriotism. How were these new nations built, without any traditional nationalist reference points?In The New Central Asia , Olivier Roy argues that Soviet practice had always been to build on local institutions and promote a local elite. Thus Soviet administration - as opposed to Soviet policy making - was always surprisingly decentralized. With home-grown political leaders and administrative institutions, national identities in Central Asia emerged almost by stealth. Roy’s compelling analysis of the new Central Asian states - Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kirghizstan and including Azerbaijan - makes an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the geopolitics of Central Asia.