Book Launch: March 10, 2021 – Toward Nationalizing Regimes: Conceptualizing Power and Identity in the Post-Soviet Realm
The collapse of the Soviet Union famously opened new venues for the theories of nationalism and the study of processes and actors involved in these new nation-building processes. In this comparative study, Kudaibergenova takes the new states and nations of Eurasia that emerged in 1991, Latvia and Kazakhstan, and seeks to better understand the phenomenon… Continue reading Book Launch: March 10, 2021 – Toward Nationalizing Regimes: Conceptualizing Power and Identity in the Post-Soviet Realm
Book Launch: March 15 – Pipe Dreams: Water and Empire in Central Asia’s Aral Sea Basin
Pipe Dreams explores the ways in which both the tsarist and Soviet regimes used fantasies of bringing the deserts to life as a means of claiming legitimacy in Central Asia, a process that ultimately led to the drying up of Central Asia’s Aral Sea. Maya Peterson argues that the disappearance of the Aral Sea, considered… Continue reading Book Launch: March 15 – Pipe Dreams: Water and Empire in Central Asia’s Aral Sea Basin
Double Book Launch – March 25, 2021: Chinese Foreign Policy toward Central Asia and the Silk Roads
Chinese Foreign Policy toward Central Asia and the Silk Roadswith Authors Daniel S. Markey & Tim Winter, Discussant Rodger Baker, Moderator Sebastien Peyrouse, and Chair Marlene Laruelle President Xi Jinping has initiated major economic development programs within China and beyond its borders, including through the controversial Belt and Road Initiative which is forging worldwide connections in… Continue reading Double Book Launch – March 25, 2021: Chinese Foreign Policy toward Central Asia and the Silk Roads
The State of Civil Society in Central Asia: Kazakhstan | Состояние Гражданского Общества в Центральной Азии: Казахстан
Feature Photo Credit: Simon Sun at Unsplash Registration is required for this event | Для участия в этом мероприятии требуется регистрация The George Washington University Central Asia Program invites you to the first of four seminars in our Civil Society in Central Asia series. These sessions will be led by Central Asia civil society experts… Continue reading The State of Civil Society in Central Asia: Kazakhstan | Состояние Гражданского Общества в Центральной Азии: Казахстан
US EXIM Program on China and Transformational Exports: Boosting American Competitiveness in Central Asia and Globally
The American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce (AUCC) and the Central Asia Program invite you for a virtual discussion ofUS EXIM Program on China and Transformational Exports: Boosting American Competitiveness in Central Asia and Globally As per the EXIM’s historic seven-year reauthorization (P.L. 116-94), signed into law December 20, 2019, a new Program on China and Transformational… Continue reading US EXIM Program on China and Transformational Exports: Boosting American Competitiveness in Central Asia and Globally
The Central Asian Revolt of 1916: A Collapsing Empire in the Age of War and Revolution
The 1916 Revolt was a key event in the history of Central Asia, and of the Russian Empire in the First World War. This volume is the first comprehensive re-assessment of its causes, course and consequences in English for over sixty years. It draws together a new generation of leading historians from North America, Japan,… Continue reading The Central Asian Revolt of 1916: A Collapsing Empire in the Age of War and Revolution
Память из пламени Афганистана
Память из пламени Афганистана с Ботагоз Ракишевой, Эльмирой Ногойбаевой и Марлен Ларуэль Проект «Память из пламени Афганистана» был инициирован Марлен Ларуэль (директор Института исследований Европы, России и Евразии (IERES), директор Программы по изучению Центральной Азии, со-руководитель программы PONARS-Eurasia, профессор –исследователь Международных отношений в Университете Джорджа Вашингтона) и Ботагоз Ракишевой (Исследовательский институт «Общественное мнение», Казахстан) в 2012… Continue reading Память из пламени Афганистана
The Bukharan Crisis: A Connected History of 18th – Century Central Asia
The Bukharan Crisis: A Connected History of 18th - Century Central Asia with author Scott Levi, Professor Christopher P. Atwood, and moderator Marlene Laruelle In the first half of the eighteenth century, Central Asia’s Bukharan Khanate descended into a crisis from which it would not recover. Bukharans suffered failed harvests and famine, a severe fiscal downturn, invasions… Continue reading The Bukharan Crisis: A Connected History of 18th – Century Central Asia
Representing Cultural Diversity in Russia. The Eurovision contest and Manizha’s “Russian Woman” Performance
Photo: MANIZHA on Instagram The nomination of Manizha Sangin, a Russian singer of Tajik origin, for the EurovisionSong Contest seems to have come as a surprise to everyone. On the one hand, this concerns theconservative part of Russian society, which various political forces are trying to mobilize,condemning Manizha for insulting the image of a Russian… Continue reading Representing Cultural Diversity in Russia. The Eurovision contest and Manizha’s “Russian Woman” Performance
Trends and Challenges in Addressing Human Trafficking in Central Asia: Civil Society and Survivor Perspectives
Central Asia is a source, and to a lesser extent a transit and destination point, of victims trafficked for the purposes of both sexual and labor exploitation. Cases of victims forced into prostitution in the Middle East or Asia or forced to work in construction or various industries in Russia or Ukraine are underreported and generally… Continue reading Trends and Challenges in Addressing Human Trafficking in Central Asia: Civil Society and Survivor Perspectives
Remembering Kazakhstan’s Great Famine of the 1930s
May 31 marks the Remembrance Day of the Victims of Political Repression and Famine in Kazakhstan. The great famine of 1931–1933, also known as Asharshylyk, resulted from forced collectivization and sedentarization undertaken by the Soviet regime. According to some sources, more than 1.5 million people, approximately one-third of the Kazakh population, perished. Several hundred thousand survivors fled Kazakhstan to… Continue reading Remembering Kazakhstan’s Great Famine of the 1930s
China’s Vaccine Diplomacy In Central Asia: What Next?
As COVID-19 continues to rage throughout Central Asia, China has been sending millions of doses of vaccines, mostly free of cost, to the region, thus expanding its ever-growing footprint there. Alongside vaccine diplomacy, Beijing has also been very active in solidifying its place as the leading player providing a lifeline to the region's struggling economy, transitioning… Continue reading China’s Vaccine Diplomacy In Central Asia: What Next?
Rising Civic Engagement in Central Asia and Azerbaijan
The Central Asia Program is proud to announce our Spring 2021 CAAFP Fellows’ Final Research Presentation. Join us for a brief seminar featuring our scholars from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan as they present their research on the current cultural, educational, environmental, and gender related issues in Central Asia. Spring 2021 CAAFP Fellows and Their Research… Continue reading Rising Civic Engagement in Central Asia and Azerbaijan
Marriage Quandaries in Central Asia
The reality of marriage across Central Asia is complicated. Not only does the term “marriage” cover a wide range of practices and achievements, but many non-marital relationships co-exist too. This tension—the flexibility of marriage in form and function, and its overlap with non-marriage, on the one hand, and its abiding importance and (at times) self-evidentiary… Continue reading Marriage Quandaries in Central Asia
Afghanistan, Central Asia, and the Resurgence of the Taliban
As Talibans are progressing in retaking control of Afghanistan, Central Asian states and border communities found themselves in a situation of neighboring Taliban-government regions, with potential implications for their own territory. Join us to discuss the situation and insights from the field with Mélanie Sadozaï, Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, Antonio Giustozzi, and Marlene Laruelle. Speakers Mélanie… Continue reading Afghanistan, Central Asia, and the Resurgence of the Taliban
Ground Truth: Local Views About The Taliban’s Return
An online discussion with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Central Asia Program In the span of just a few days, the Taliban has reached the borders of Central Asia, having seized control of large swaths of land in northern Afghanistan. The Taliban's return and the ongoing escalations have altered the day-to-day lives of locals, with… Continue reading Ground Truth: Local Views About The Taliban’s Return
Book Launch – The Cinema of Soviet Kazakhstan 1925-1991: An Uneasy Legacy
The Cinema of Soviet Kazakhstan 1925-1991: An Uneasy Legacy Featuring Peter Rollberg, Professor of Slavic Languages, Film Studies and International Affairs Join us on a journey through the history of Kazakh filmmaking, from Soviet production to national cinema and arthouse phenomenon. Ludmila Pruner, one of the first American scholars to deal with the cinema of Kazakhstan,… Continue reading Book Launch – The Cinema of Soviet Kazakhstan 1925-1991: An Uneasy Legacy
Book Launch – Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Central Asia
The Central Asia Program Invites you to the Book Launch Event: Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Central Asia Speakers: Edward Lemon, Dina Sharipova, Johan Engvall, and Galym Zhussipbek Moderated by: Editors Rico Isaacs and Erica Marat Click here to join Zoom session Meeting ID: 997 1102 7912 The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Central Asia offers the… Continue reading Book Launch – Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Central Asia
Looking Back on Central Asia’s Perestroika: Political Narratives and Political Mobilization | Оглядываясь на перестройку в Ц
*English and Russian interpretation will be provided. Перевод на английский и русский язык будет обеспечен. Life in the USSR was effectively turned upside down by the package of reforms known as "perestroika" initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985. This was equally true in Central Asia: although some observers have noted that certain reforms came slowly… Continue reading Looking Back on Central Asia’s Perestroika: Political Narratives and Political Mobilization | Оглядываясь на перестройку в Ц
Book Launch – Central Peripheries: Nationhood in Central Asia
Book Launch Discussion Central Peripheries: Nationhood in Central Asia with Author Marlene Laruelle and discussants Diana Kudaibergenova, Sabina Insebayeva, and Berikbol Dukeyev. Central Peripheries explores post-Soviet Central Asia through the prism of nation-building. It looks at how states in the region have been navigating the construction of a nation in a post-imperial context where Russia remains… Continue reading Book Launch – Central Peripheries: Nationhood in Central Asia
Questioning Sovietness in Post-Soviet Nationbuilding
In this roundtable, we aim to provide a conceptual intervention in the ongoing debates on the nature of Soviet-ness in nation-building strategies of Central Asian states and regimes. Through our short presentations and discussion, we want to illustrate the workings of Soviet-ness in the contemporary ideas of ethnicity, ideology, class, and minority relations. The roundtable… Continue reading Questioning Sovietness in Post-Soviet Nationbuilding
Soft Power in Central Asia: The Politics of Influence and Seduction
Since the breakup of the Eastern bloc, Central Asia has been analyzed primarily through the prism of hard power and the great powers’ geopolitical and geostrategic games in the region. Yet, forging long-term relationships with each of the Central Asian states may require less the stick of military or economic coercion than the carrot of… Continue reading Soft Power in Central Asia: The Politics of Influence and Seduction
Book Launch – Rentier Capitalism and its Discontents: Power, Morality, and Resistance in Central Asia
Rentier Capitalism and Its Discontents: Power, Morality and Resistance in Central Asia Speakers: Balihar Sanghera, Elmira Satybaldieva, David Montgomery, and Assel Tutumlu This book explains and evaluates today's economic, political, social and ecological crises through the lens of rentier capitalism and countermovements in Central Asia. Over the last three decades the rich and powerful have… Continue reading Book Launch – Rentier Capitalism and its Discontents: Power, Morality, and Resistance in Central Asia
President Mirziyoyev’s Second Term In Office: What Next For Uzbekistan?
As Shavkat Mirziyoev starts his second term as the President of Uzbekistan, all eyes are on what comes next and what his second term may mean for the country. He was declared winner in a vote that featured no genuine opposition and that Western observers called "not truly competitive." Similarly, election eve was marred by… Continue reading President Mirziyoyev’s Second Term In Office: What Next For Uzbekistan?
