Enclaves in the post-Communist Central Asia: Do good fences make good neighbors?
with Rashid Gabdulhakov, Visiting Fellow, Central Asia Program, GWU The collapse of a state as large and diverse as the USSR inevitably led to disputes over natural and industrial resources, but also…
Assessing the Capabilities of Central Asian Armies
11:00-12:30pm Panel I. Roundtable. Assessing Security Threats to Central Asia Chair: Sebastien Peyrouse (IERES, GWU) Clark Adams (Department of Defense) Alexander Cooley (Barnard College, Columbia University) Roger Kangas (Near East…
Eurasia’s Future and the role of the United States
Join us to honor the memory of author and scholar Alexandros Petersen (1984-2014), killed in Kabul on January 17. With Margarita Assenova (Jamestown Foundation), Stephen J.Blank (American Foreign Policy Council), Samuel Charap (International Institute…
The Fourth Central Asia Fellowship Seminar
11:00am Opening Remarks Marlene Laruelle (Central Asia Program, IERES, GWU) and Chantal De Jonge Oudraat (Women in International Security, WIIS) 11:15am Natalia Zakharchenko (Kyrgyzstan) Quotes on Quotas: Political Representation of Women in…
Turkmenistan: Domestic Evolution, Economic Development, and Regional Environment
9:00am Introductory Remarks Marlene Laruelle (CAP, IERES, GWU) 9:15am Session I. Governance Changes in Turkmenistan Chair: Marlene Laruelle (CAP, IERES, GWU) Myles Smith (IREX) Forget political will - Would good…
The Fifth Central Asia Fellowship Seminar
4:00pm Opening Remarks Marlene Laruelle (George Washington University) 4:15pm Farrukh Irnazarov (Uzbekistan) Labor Migrant Households in Uzbekistan: Remittances as a Challenge or Blessing? Discussant: Seyed Reza Yousefi (Development Prospects Group (DECPG), World…
Kyrgyzstan-US Relationship: After the Cooperation Treaty, and before the Parliamentary Elections
Kyrgyzstan's decision to cancel a cooperation treaty with the United States after tensions over the US awarding a human rights prize to jailed dissident, Azimjon Askarov, contributed to deteriorating US-Kyrgyz…
Turkmenistan Today: Regional Security and Domestic Outlook
Muhammad Tahir, Director of Turkmen Service at Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty Since early 2015, Taliban militants have significantly increased their activities in northern Afghanistan, taking control of most of…
Beyond Crimea: Russian Compatriot and Reimperialization Policies in Central Asia
Based on the research of her forthcoming book Beyond Crimea: The New Russian Empire (Yale University Press, February 2015), Dr. Grigas will discuss Moscow’s policies towards the Russian minorities and Russian speakers…
Political and Economic Trends in Kazakhstan: Risks, Threats, and Prospects
For several years, the Kazakhstani state has been actively expanding its participation in different spheres of public life, and concentrating resources in the financial, political, and media sectors. Several so-called umbrella structures work…
GLASGOW – Inside the Pyramid: Is Central Asia authoritarianism stable?
A Workshop Series organized byCRCEES & CAP View the full program here. Patrimonial, patronal, clientelistic: Central Asia’s authoritarian power is often classified in these terms. The proliferation of analytical rubrics…
Studying Social Marginalization in Central Asia: Sixth Central Asia Fellows’ Seminar
Opening Remarks, Marlene Laruelle (Central Asia Program, IERES, GWU) Aspects of Social Marginalization in Central Asia. Some Introductory Data Serik Bessembayev (Kazakhstan) Violent Extremism in Kazakhstan: The Fertile Soil of…
Selbi Jumayeva – Feminist Organizing in Kyrgyzstan
During this discussion, Selbi Jumayeva will share her experiences in the women’s rights activism, feminist organizing and anti-violence campaigning in Kyrgyzstan and discuss gender and sexuality issues in Central Asia,…
Inside the Pyramid: Is Central Asia Authoritarianism Stable?
Patrimonial, patronal, clientelistic: Central Asia’s authoritarian power is often classified in these terms. The proliferation of analytical rubrics and conceptual lenses to delve into regional developments confirms that, if anything,…
Understanding Regime Legitimacy in Central Asia
A round table organized by GW's Central Asia Program and CRCEES, University of Glasgow Chair: Marlene Laruelle (GWU) Sally Cummings (St Andrews) Edward Schatz (University of Toronto) Luca Anceschi (Glasgow University) Patrimonial,…
Nargis Kassenova & CAAFP Fellows – New Challenges in Central Asia. Changing Societies in a Time of Economic Crisis
With Nargis Kassenova (KIMEP) and the Central Asia - Azerbaijan Program Fellows Chair: Marlene Laruelle (IERES, GW) 3:00pm. Nargis Kassenova (KIMEP) Kazakhstan 2016: The Politics of Crisis Discussion 4:00pm Kassymkhan…
Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh – Book Launch for “A Rock Between Hard Places: Afghanistan as an Arena of Regional Insecurity”
By Kristian Berg Harpviken and Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh What drives neighboring states to intervene in the Afghan conflict? This book challenges mainstream analyses which place Afghanistan at the center - the so-called 'heart'…
Yerlan Karin – Central Asian Fighters in Syria: Classification, Factors, Scale Assessment
The war in Syria, like a magnet, pulled radicals from around the world, including Central Asian fighters. There are different figures on the number of Central Asian militants in Syria. Separate research was…
What Changes in a Post-Karimov Uzbekistan?
2:15-3:45pmSession 1. Changes in the Uzbek domestic landscape Chair: Marlene Laruelle (GWU) Bruce Pannier (RFE/RL) Softer on the Outside but Still Hard at the Core Dillorom Abdulloeva (Tashabbus) What Changes…
Richard Weitz – Enhancing the Georgia-US Security Partnership
For several decades, Georgia has been one of the most important economic and security partners of the United States. The US is the largest bilateral aid donor to Georgia, having…
Michael Clarke – Beijing’s “March West”: One Belt, One Road and China’s Quest for Great Power Status
With Michael Clarke, National Security College, Australian National University Much ink has been spilt over the past two decades debating the impact of the 'rise' of China on the international relations…
Murad Ismayilov – (Homogenising) Hybrid Intentionality and the Dialectics of Elite Attitudes to Islam: Towards a Re-Sacralisation of the Political Space in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan's independence came after seven decades of militant atheism of the Soviet modernization project and emerged into staunch secularism of Western modernity, two factors that, on a par with the…
Central Asia Fellows Seminar. Social, Cultural and Spatial Inequalities in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
4:30pm. Opening Marlene Laruelle (Director, Central Asia Program) 4:45pm. Presentations Savia Hasanova (Kyrgyzstan) Income Inequality in Kyrgyzstan: The Redistributive Effect of Social Benefits Berikbol Dukeyev (Kazakhstan) Ethnic Return Migration…
Zuhra Halimova – Foreign Aid to Eurasia: Donors’ Agendas, Local Perceptions, and Lost Illusions
Various donor agencies have become active players in defining and drafting strategies of transition from communist heritages and pasts to modern democratic societies and market economies, as well as in…
