Strategic Silences and Narrative Power in International Relations

Developing a conceptual framework of strategic silence and applying it to various domains of Central Asian international relations, this book uncovers how silence allows states to navigate structural constraints, maintain flexibility, and assert subtle forms of resistance or alignment. Strategic ambiguity and restraint often characterise Central Asia’s response to major geopolitical shifts. This book frames these silences as forms of soft power and subtle resistance that reflect regional logics of survival, dignity, and diplomacy. By exploring the multifaceted ways in which the region’s states employ silence as part of their international behaviour, the book introduces a new conceptual vocabulary in order to understand subaltern agency and regional identity construction in the post-Soviet space. Chapters explore strategic silence not as a uniform doctrine but as a contextual practice—emerging differently in response to Russian imperial nostalgia, Chinese economic expansion, Western engagement, and internal post-Soviet memory struggles. The result is a reconceptualisation of silence as an intentional, strategic, and communicative device within international relations. This book will be of interest to researchers and postgraduate students working in international relations, Central Asian studies, area studies, and global politics. Policymakers and diplomatic practitioners working on Eurasian, Indo-Pacific, or post-Soviet affairs may also benefit from the book.