This course is an introduction to Central Asia, a region of the world that has layers of history, culture, and politics, that extend back to the time of Alexander the Great's conquest, Islamicization by the Arabs, Tamerlane's empire, and the Great Game of the 19th century. Our focus will mainly be on the twentieth century to the present, a period of invasion and control by the Soviet Union, then independence and a 30 year struggle to establish independent states and new forms of political power.Otherwise known as the "stans" (the land of) - this region includes the land of the Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Turkmen, Tajiks, and Afghans. We will also discuss Azerbaijan, a Turkic post-Soviet republic in the Caucasus that is a neighbor to the Central Asian region. We will focus on the role of ethnic, religious, and national identities in Soviet and post-Soviet politics. We will explore their history, and especially the legacy of communism for the present day. We will particularly address the problems of the post-Soviet era, including political transition to new regimes, the struggle by some for democracy, human rights issues, the challenges of economic reform, environmental catastrophes, ethnic conflict, civil war, and the growth of radical Islamist movements. We will consider US policy in the region, and how it has positively or negatively affected political developments.