[.ca] The New Great Game: Blood and Oil in Central Asia (ISBN 0802141722)

A reporter's view of an old geopolitical game:
Anyone who is familiar with their history and of the "Great Game" played out in Central Asia between Russia and Great Britain will take heart that the game is back in play, albeit with a new cast of players. Today the precious commodity is oil, and in light of the demise of the former Soviet Union, a whole new cast of characters are activily engaged in competing for influence and the associated riches that will come with control of the oil resources. One new facet of this game, that Kleveman highlights is the role multinational oil corporations play in the game. Whether you adhere to many of Kleveman's suggestions that much of what is done in this region is done at Big Oil's behest is subject to debate. The book is well written..although I did note some factual errors, particularly with some of the military terminology that he uses. Book is very reminiscent of Eastward to Tartary...but overall a good read for anyone interested in the realpolitik of Central Asia.

The Cold War is over!:
The book is well-written, and provides great and complete information on the current state of affairs in Central Asia, China and Azerbaijan. It also gives a bit of an historical overview of the affairs in the region from late 19th century onwards. The author judges the events from personal experience and provides many details from encounters in every country mentioned. There is a downside to the personal approach to geopolitical writing, however, and it is the author's obvious hatred of Russia. His description of the Chechen terrorists and the Nord Ost hostage affair is biased and one-sided, tarnishing an otherwise excellent work.

Interesting, but........:
I found the first few chapters of this book quite interesting and well worth a read, I was however a little disapointed as the book went on. The last two chapters on Afgahnistan and Pakistan to be more or less fluff, as well as one or two other chapters that I felt the writer was just writing filler. Also I thought there would be alot more researched infomation, but it is very light on. Over all, a very easy read, some intersting bits and some stats on oil in the Central Asian region, but not as much as you would like.

BeSt book I ever read!!!:
BesT book I ever read!!! Very enlightening and entertaining!

A stunning book:
Make no mistake, behind the unassuming prose and relatively short length of this book lies an extremely astute and sharp analysis of the politics, history and significance of the caspian region. Like Michael Klare's "Resource Wars", the great strength of this book is that Kleveman focuses first on the distribution and location of the natural resources underlying the region (here mostly oil) and then "follows the money" to see how they shape the politics and intrigues within each country, and between them and the larger forces of the global economy. Kleveman seems to have an extraordinary ability to weave together history, personal observations, current affairs, and interviews into chapters that contain the essence of the information. I was particularly impressed with his knack at obtaining audiences with key players in politics and the oil industry who appear to speak very openly to him giving nuggets of insight unobtainable elsewhere. The bottom line is that this is an understated book, very easy to read, and essential.I cannot recommend this book enough, and I just hope this is the first of many books in the same vein by Kleveman. His capacity to cut through the crap and actually say something is truly remarkable. I would love to see him do something similar with Western Africa (where he apparently has done some reporting), the South China Sea, Eastern Europe, Latin America, etc...