Turkmenistan

This book is the first comprehensive introduction to contemporary Turkmenistan in English.One of the least-known states of post-Soviet Central Asia, Turkmenistan is thought to have the world's fourth largest reserves of natural gas as well as substantial oil resources; it also exports hydroelectric power. Despite these resource riches, the country has remained isolated even in independence. Its Communist-era leader, Saparmurat Niyazov, who retained power after the collapse of the USSR, constructed a personality cult of extreme dimensions until his sudden death in 2006. Despite a few hopeful signs, Turkmenistan under its current president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, has not delineated a clear path of political and economic development.Drawing on Russian and Western sources as well as fieldwork, this book examines the political, social, economic, and geopolitical dimensions of contemporary Turkmenistan and considers the prospects for its emergence as a political and economic factor in the twenty-first century world.