The Importance of the Eurasian Steppe to the Study of International Relations (original) (raw)
Related papers
Reframing the steppe in world politics
Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 2020
Award forum review of Neumann, Iver B., and Einar Wigen. The Steppe Tradition in International Relations: Russians, Turks and European State Building 4000 BCE–2017 CE. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Competition and Diplomacy on the Steppe
Shapur Shahbazi Memorial Volume, 2024
The first half of the tenth century CE witnessed a major political competition between the Abbasis Caliphate in Baghdad and local and regional polities emerging throughout Iran. The most powerful of the latter were the Buyids of Tabaristan. Another Iranian polity to emerge in this period was the Samanid dynasty in Khorasan who gained its power throuh trade with the native people of Eurasia.The Muslims were curious about these people. Therefore, envoys were exchanged between these people and the Abbasid court some of whome left behind travelogues. In this paper, the author explores one of these travelogues, that of Ibn Fadhlan that, in addition to valuable information on the customs and traditions of the steppe people, provides a rich amount of data on the relations between the Abbasid court and the emerging polities in Iran and Central Asia. From Ibn Fadhlan's travelogue it appears that his journey was in response to a letter to the Chief of the Bulgars, an ambitious plan by the Abbasid Caliph, Al-Moqtader-o Bellah to establish contact with the Bulgar chief. The author of the travelogue gives a description of the voyague to the land of Bulgars and their meeting with the Chief that, evidently, failed to secure a favorable conclusion.The author of the travelogue then goes on to discuss the historical context of the voyague.
Empires of the Steppe: Eurasia from the Mongols to the Soviet Union (Syllabus)
Course Objective: Over the last several centuries, Eurasia’s millennia-long domination by successive nomadic steppe empires (stretching from Europe to China) was displaced by new imperial challengers from the periphery (notably Russia, China, and Britain). This course examines the nature of that transition by charting the history of Eurasian empires from the Mongols (thirteenth century) to the present day. From Genghis Khan to Tamerlane to Stalin; between Russian spies, Viking berserkers, and the Taliban; across silk roads, great games, and more. (Revised for spring 2019 semester.)
The Power of the Foreign in Pre-Modern West Eurasia
This paper discusses the relationship between access to imperial courts and sovereignty in pre-modern Eurasia. Drawing on Giorgio Agamben's theory of the 'state of exception', this paper argues that the ability to extract prestigious goods and titles from imperial polities was a major source of political prestige among nomadic and sedentary polities of the steppe belt and the Caucasus.
Remnants of the Mongol Imperial Tradition
We should not take for granted that remnants of 'Western' imperial tradition are the only ones on display today. It is true that Europe and its settler states dominated the world economically and politically in the 19 th and 20 th centuries. That does not necessarily mean, however, that the broad European imperial tradition succeeded in eradicating other imperial traditions. There is, furthermore, the possibility that the European tradition was itself indebted to other traditions. In this chapter, we will make the case for the relevance of what we call the Eurasian steppe tradition. We will focus on its lingering importance, and only touch on its historical role as the main other in early European state formation. Part one of the chapter charts the 1500-year long history of the steppe tradition and tries to capture it by way of an ideal type, and 1 We should like to thank our editors and fellow contributors as well as Bjørnar Sverdrup-Thygesen and Rune Svarverud.
2023
This thesis will argue that the Mongolian Empire’s policies of cultural exchange and diplomacy towards the Latin world were driven by an imperial steppe ideology whose core characteristic was to achieve universal dominion. The thesis will make this argument by explicitly linking these two broad agendas of diplomatic engagement and cultural exchange to each other and placing them within the context of the Mongol ideology of universal rule. The thesis will make this argument by first examining the imperial steppe ideology of the nomadic empires which preceded the Mongol Empire in order to demonstrate that they also considered universal rule to be a key factor in their respective ideological basis. The early history of the Mongol Empire will then be examined to show the ideological continuities with the previous empires. Subsequently, the individuals and groups which comprised the empire’s administration will have their religious and cultural backgrounds examined in order to indicate why they retained the universal nature of the imperial steppe ideology. Following this, examples of cultural exchange and trade within the Mongol Empire and with its neighbouring states will be situated within the context of the universalism of the imperial steppe ideology. Finally, diplomatic engagement between the Mongol Empire and the Latin world will also be placed within the ideological framework of the empire’s goal of achieving universal rule. It is hoped that the thesis will provoke further questions and research into the field of Mongolian history concerning the ideological foundations of the empire and its effect on their policies.
Rulers of the Steppe:Rulers of the Steppe
American Anthropologist, 2002
Steppe presents the dilemma of the Tuvan people: How can they gain greater self-determination while they remain part of the Russian Federation? How can they increase political autonomy when they are economically dependent on the Federation? The Tuvan people occupy Tuva, an independent republic with its own constitution, president, and parliament. Tuva makes its own laws on some issues and sets its own budget. But the Federation maintains control over the areas of greatest concern to Tuvans. The appropriate punishments for cattle theft, procedures for obtaining international loans, environmental protection in mining operations, and the amount of the annual subvention (currently about 80 percent of total revenues) from the Russian Federation are some of those concerns.