The multi-cultural region of Central Eurasia is living through its early post-independence years, and as such serves as an ideal case to study and analyse theories of identity and foreign policy in a non-European context. Looking to re-introduce identity as a multi-dimensional factor informing state behaviour, this book analyses the experiences of the different Central Eurasian states in their post-independence pursuits.

Mohammed Ayoob is University Distinguished Professor of International Relations at Michigan State University, USA.

Murad Ismayilov is Doctoral Researcher in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge, UK and Research Fellow at ADA University (previously Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy), Azerbaijan.

Introduction: Identity as a source and an output of foreign policy and regional security in post-Soviet Central Eurasia: Towards integrating nationalism scholarship into IR constructivism PART I: Nation-building and emerging identities in post-Soviet Central Eurasia 1. Threat perceptions of Islam in a post-communist secular context: Public policies towards Islamic finance in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan and the effects on nation-building 2. Language and sovereignty: A comparative analysis of language policy in Tatarstan and Kazakhstan, 1991-2010 3.Identity recovered vs. identity redefined: Three post-Soviet cases 4. Domesticating elite education: Raising patriots and educating Kazakhstan's future PART II: From identity to foreign policy back to identity 5. Russian foreign policy toward Central Asia and the Caucasus since the end of the Cold War: A search for identity with geopolitical characteristics 6. International commitments to elections and election observation in the Caucasus and Central Asia: The interplay between political identity, foreign policy and regional affiliation 7.Identity and alignment in Central Eurasia 8.International cultural engagements and their domestic effects: Eurovision and nation-building in Azerbaijan