The release of Sinostan, a new book about China's growing influence in Central Asia, will mark the end of a sprawling journey that has taken its authors more than a decade to complete. When Raffaello Pantucci and Alexandros Petersen first set out in 2008 to research Beijing's rising and outsized impact on the region it was only slightly visible, but it has since become one of the most noteworthy examples of China's global sway. Amid little fanfare in 2001, Beijing made its first major foray into the region when it launched the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional bloc that included Russia and every ... (full story)