Friday, July 18, 2003

The Dust of Empire by Karl Meyer Posted here Friday, July 18, 2003 at 8:22:01 PM       I just finished The Dust Of Empire by the NYT correspondent long for the middle east, Karl Meyer. The subtitle tells it all: "The race for mastery in the asian hearland." This differentiated world along the silk route, from Kosovo east through Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia Armenia, Azerbaijan, across the Caspian sea,  from there with Kazakstan always on the north, and Afghanistan always on the south,  through Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, till we reach China. A world of details and passions, often invaded for three thousand years, always winning, now ermeated by ex soviet migrations and American military amazingly present in odd places, and a few big oil companies. Oil the black shit of animals and plants long gone, supports the black gold mystique, and it is central to American and European "foreign policy." This book is a good backgrounder. ********