Turkmenistan's Foreign Policy

Luca Anceschi is Research Associate at the Centre for Dialogue, La Trobe University, Australia. He is a graduate of the University of Naples ‘L’Orientale’ and of La Trobe University. His main research interests include the international politics of post-Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus.

• Introduction Part 1: Contextualising Turkmenistan’s Foreign Policy 1. Establishing a conceptual framework for the policy of Positive Neutrality 2. Turkmen authoritarianism in the post-Soviet era 3. The Doctrine of Positive Neutrality as a key element in nation-building Part 2: The Operational Dimension of Turkmen Foreign Policy 4. The Economic Foreign Policy of Neutral Turkmenistan 5. Neutrality as equidistance from sources of dependency: Russo-Turkmen relations in the post-Soviet Era 6. Neutrality as a policy of insulation: The international community and human rights violations in Turkmenistan 7. Turkmenistan’s foreign policy in the post-Niyazov era Conclusion: Continuity and change in Turkmen foreign policy-making

'In Turkmenistan's Foreign Policy, Luca Anceschi provides welcome insights into the development of this fascinating country. He draws a comprehensive picture of the evolution of the Turkmen regime from the emergence and consolidation of Saparmurat Niyazov's personal dictatorship to the post-Niyazov era of President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, who, as Anceschi effectively points out, has so far provided more continuity than change in Turkmenistan's domestic and foreign-policy approaches despite his early promise to open up Turkmenistan's political system' - Survivial, December 2008'Anceschi’s book presents a great opportunity to fill the scholarly vacuum that continues to exist with respect to Turkmen studies. The book provides an in-depth analysis of post-Soviet Turkmen foreign policy...]' - Grigol Ubiria, The Australian National University, Asian Politics and Policy 1(3) 2009'Luca Anceschi’s book makes itself immediately valuable as a study that, without ignoring Niyazov’s cult of personality, looks beyond that regime’s eccentricities to provide an overview of Turkmenistan’s policy of positive neutrality' - VICTORIA CLEMENT, Europe-Asia Studies, Volume 61, 2009"As a whole, the book is a revealing read...It is based on an admirably broad selection of first-hand sources...The chapter on economic foreign policy, in particular, is detailed and impressive". - Michael Pye, Asian Affairs, July 2010"Luca Anceschi provides a unique, scholarly analysis of the evolution of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy in the post-Soviet era, as the country struggled to establish itself as an independent state in a turbulent neighbourhood... a well-written, thorough analysis of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy, which provides a fascinating insight into the evolution of a unique international stance." - Tracey German, King’s College London, UK; International Affairs 86:6, 2010