The Dust of Empire: The Race for Mastery in the Asian Heartland

by Karl E. Meyer

Book Overview

When Charles de Gaulle learned that France's former colonies in Africa had chosen independence, the great general shrugged dismissively, "They are the dust of empire." But as Americans have learned, particles of dust from remote and seemingly medieval countries can, at great human and material cost, jam the gears of a superpower.

In The Dust of Empire, Karl E. Meyer examines the present and past of the Asian heartland in a book that...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1586482416
• ISBN13: 9781586482411
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Roads between nowhere and everywhere

Few parts of the world are as unknown to the modern world, yet as influential as Central Asia; that stretch of land starting at Iraq in the Southwest, going up thru the former USSR republics in the Northwest, and extending through Mongolia in the East. Yet this area of nowheres is laced with roads that lead to every great empire on the Eurasian continent. For centuries great empires and conquerors have blindly entered this vast land of deserts, grasslands and mountain ranges. Their purposes were varied; outflanking enemies, establishing trading outposts, seeking new allies, or searching for oil. But in all cases, they often got a lot more than what they bargained for. This is the fundamental thesis of this book. The second, unspoken theme is that Westerners never seem to learn their lesson. Starting with Alexander the Great, continuing with the British and Russians during the great game of the 1800s, and now with America in the late 20th and early 21st century, western governments have often gotten involved in this region, usually without consulting or even letting their populations know what they were doing. The most recent adventures by America during the Afghan war of the 1980s led to the rise of the Taliban and Al Queda, and eventually the 9/11 attacks. This book's author lightly veiled opinion is that America has not learned the lessons of Britain and Russia. The author surveys the region, country by country, and provides a historical summary of the West's and more recently, America's involvement in each place. The list includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kashmir, Kazakhstan, and Iran. In each place, the author traces out America's involvement and alliances with some very unsavory characters, usually to the detriment of human rights and freedom within that region. Most of the major individuals are described, such as Osama bin Laden, President Musharaff in Pakistan, Omar Mullah in Afghanistan, and recent dictators of the various "stans" of the former USSR. And the most important character of all, oil, always lurks in the background. The emphasis of the book is on recent history, and America's involvement. Hence there are some important backstory that is not elaborated on; such as America's overthrow of Mossadegh in the 1950s. There is a lot of material on America's formation of military alliances with the border states of Russia. Overall, the book is great. Its reading level is appropriate for college students on updwards, and the text flows quite easily. The style is a mix of textbookish history and journalistic writing, which together makes for enjoyable reading. I highly recommend this book.

Great Game Redux in Highly Unstable Region

Karl Meyer rightly reminds his audience about the importance of history. Whoever lives in a perpetual present will burn his own fingers in dealing with countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Meyers has written highly readable and illuminating vignettes on these countries, which belong to what he calls the Asian heartland. This region is a theater of confrontation between liberalism and despotism. Russia, China, and the U.S. vie with each other for preeminence in a region often rich in natural resources but usually poor in liberal traditions.

Interesting and well-written

In this short, readable book (in part an update of Tournament of Shadows), Meyer first provides some background on imperial competition among the British, the Russians, and the Americans in Southwest and Central Asia. Subsequent chapters describe recent history in Iran, Afghanistan, the Caucasus, and the Central Asian republics that once were part of the Soviet Union. Meyer's writing is clear, lively, and well-informed; events are placed in context, and are illuminated with sharply observed detail. While the discussion of issues is relatively light, this is an eye-opening introduction for those not already knowledgeable about the region.

Learn About Central Asia

Central Asia has always held our fascination: who, having heard of it, doesn't want to travel the Golden Road to Samarkand?Central Asia has also always been fearsome ... from Timur to Ali Babba and now to Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and the Ayatolla Khomeini.But who in America knows with certainty that Samarkand is in Uzbekistan? Or even where the Caspian Sea is, or what countries border it?Rudyard Kipling whetted our appetite with Kim (worth re-reading, by the way) and Peter Hopkirk led us by the hand through the days of the Great Game between Russia and England.But now, we - the United States of America directly and all the world indirectly to one extent or another - are painfully and uneasily involved in Central Asia; and we are unlikely to extricate ourselves soon, and our children who are of an age to enlist are very much at risk. To say nothing of the hole in the middle of Downtown New York City.But who knows anything about this Golden Road and this Golden Horde? Karl Meyer does, and he makes learning about these places and these people interesting reading. America, particularly, with its focus solely on the present, needs to be reminded that not only have these people been there a long time but also that America has long been involved without most of us even realizing it.As The Ugly American of decades ago reminded us then that we have a responsibility and a duty to know something of the world we so much influence, The Dust of Empire does for today. It bears reading twice since it takes at least that to fix in our minds where and what Kyrgyzstan is.

A Bit Unfocused but Fascinating Nonetheless

Meyer's thesis seems to be that US dominance of sovereign countries is a bad thing. Using historical examples of American, British, and Russian imperialism, he makes this point well. But he never really explains why the Central Asian republics are at special risk for this kind of imperialism. The book seems on one hand to be about the risks of imperialism in general, and on the other hand a summary of recent Central Asian history.I would have preferred two separate books--one on the dangers of imperialism, and one on the history and future of Central Asia. (The book may have been a bit rushed and its thesis may have been redirected by recent events) But nonetheless, the chapters are on their own all very interesting, and Meyer has a lot of insight about the situation.But despite the structural flaws, I recommend this book highly to anyone interested in foreign policy or in recent Middle Eastern/Central Asian history.