Bolashak Fellows Summer Conference July 2023
Lindner Family Commons, 6th floor GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs 1957 E St NW, WashingtonHybrid Event From March to August 2023, the Central Asia Program hosted 18 Bolashak Visiting Fellows from Kazakhstan on a tailor-made training program focusing on teaching science, technology, engineering and…
Central Asia: A Loophole for Russia’s Sanctions?
Online event Russia is facing unprecedented economic and political sanctions from the United States and its allies over its invasion of Ukraine. However, Moscow has found ways to circumvent these…
Nuclear and Biological Nonproliferation: Lessons from Kazakhstan and Central Asiakaza
Stronger than Death memorial, Semei, Kazakhstan. Image Source: astanatimes.com In a world increasingly defined by bellicose rhetoric, nuclear nonproliferation is no longer taken for granted. In a post-Covid world, pandemics…
Uzbekistan’s Independence Day Concert
Elliott School of International Affairs, room 113 1957 E St. NW, Washington, DC, District of ColumbiaSAFO Ensemble and Sabina Mustaeva In celebration of the Independence Day of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Central Asia Program and the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the United…
Central Asian Migrants in Russia and Turkey: Migrant Legal Adaptation in Non-Democratic Contexts
Book talk with authors Rustam Urinboyev and Sherzod Eraliev Hybrid Event Rustam Urinboyev and Sherzod Eraliev comparatively analyze the migration regimes of Russia and Turkey through the everyday experiences of…
Cross-Border Relations between Central Asia and Afghanistan in the Taliban Era
Online event co-sponsored by The Kennan Institute The border areas between the Central Asian states and Afghanistan have often been portrayed as regions prone to lawlessness, violence, and instability since…
Central Asian Outlook: The Intersection of Trade and Culture
Book talk with author Juneyoung Lee Hybrid Event In this event Dr. Juneyoung Lee will explore the intricate dynamics between trade liberalization, cultural diversity, and protection in Central Asia. Drawing from…
Works in Progress on Central Asia:
Elliott School of International Affairs, room 505 1957 E Street, NW, Washington, District of ColumbiaSocial and Political Processes in Central Asia amid Internal and External Shocks (hybrid event) Social and political developments in Central Asia received greater attention following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,…
Armenia-Azerbaijan Relations after the Third Karabakh War
Virtual Seminar, image by Arzu Geybulla The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict reached a dramatic end on September 19, 2023, when the Azerbaijani military ended the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and almost its entire…
Kazakhstan’s Bloody January: Protest Motivations, Public Perceptions and Human Rights
Online discussion co-organized by the PaperLab Research Center (Astana, Kazakhstan) In the first days of 2022, Kazakhstan witnessed a series of protests that sent shockwaves through the country. The response…
Central Asia’s Aral Sea: Lessons for Today’s Climate Crisis
Lindner Family Commons, 6th floor GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs 1957 E St NW, WashingtonHybrid Event, Image by NASA Earth Observatory Once one of the world’s largest inland bodies of water, the Aral Sea began to shrink dramatically in the 1960s, when Soviet officials directed an…
Researching Central Asia. Navigating Positionality in the Field
Researching Central Asia can be interesting, entertaining, life-changing, traumatizing and, at the very least, thought provoking. The way we, Central Asians and Central Asianists, experience the region differs, but it…
The 80th Anniversary of the Chechen and Ingush Deportation: What is its legacy today?
Virtual Event Tuesday, February 27, 2024 from 10:00-11:00am Join us for a discussion organized by the Central Asia Program at The George Washington University to commemorate the 80th anniversary of…
Central Asian Regionalism: Insights from Inside and Out
Voesar Conference Room (Suite 412) at the Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University, 1957 E Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20052Hybrid Event Since the dawn of independence, the five post-Soviet Central Asian republics have identified themselves as a single political region. However, their separate efforts to shape national identities, institutions,…
Central Asia: Multi-Vector Policy for the 21st Century—Strategy and Development
Elliott School of International Affairs The George Washington University 1957 E Street, NW | Washington, DC | 20052Hybrid Event Wednesday, March 6th, 2024 from 10:00am-2:00pm Central Asia’s multi-vector approach to diplomacy has long been a cornerstone of its foreign policy, playing a prominent role in regional discussions.…
Exploring the Dynamics of Open Government in Kazakhstan: A Critical Assessment of Tokayev’s “Listening State” Reform
Image from Kazakhstan's Presidential Press Service Online Event In March 2019, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev assumed the presidency through a meticulously orchestrated succession, pledging to advance political liberalization and foster greater responsiveness…
Navigating the New Energy Geopolitics: Assessing Russia’s Power Play in Central Asia’s Post-2022 Gas Crisis
Elliott School of International Affairs The George Washington University 1957 E Street, NW | Washington, DC | 20052Hybrid Event Friday, March 8, 2024 from 10:00 - 11:30am The disruption of Russian gas supplies in 2022 sparked a profound reappraisal of supply and infrastructure dependencies beyond the EU-Russia…
Navigating Turmoil: The Dynamics of Armenian-Azerbaijani Relations in 2024
Online Event Thursday, March 14, 2024 from 11:00am - 12:15pm Nearly six months since the end of the Third Karabakh War, tensions persist along the Armenia-Azerbaijan borders as both nations…
Annual Security Workshop: Navigating Global Turbulence: Building Resilience in Central Asia
In-Person Event Thursday, March 28, 2024 from 8:45 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (EDT) Central Asia is at a pivotal point, facing significant geopolitical, economic, and environmental challenges that could have…
A Slow Reckoning: The USSR, the Afghan Communists, and Islam
Online Event Tuesday, April 9, 2024 from 10:00-11:00am EDT Vassily Klimentov will be discussing his book, A Slow Reckoning: The USSR, the Afghan Communists, and Islam, published by Northern Illinois University Press…
Between Allies and Adversaries: Assessing Iran’s Stand on Armenia and Azerbaijan
Online Event Monday, April 22, 2024 from 11:00am - 12:15pm EDT In the South Caucasus, Iran grapples with its relationships with Armenia and Azerbaijan amid regional power dynamics. Concerns about…
COP29, Azerbaijan, and Environmental and Human Rights
Online Event Tuesday, April 30, 2024 from 10:00-11:00 am EDT In November 2024, the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, marking the third year in…
“Awaken, Kazakh!” Kazakhstan’s History on Television: Reconstruction, Interpretation, Controversy
Online Event Monday, May 6, 2024 10:00-11:30am EDT “Kazakhstan’s History on Television: Reconstruction, Interpretation, Controversy” is dedicated to the narrative representation of Kazakhstani history on television. Recent fictionalized biographies about…
Re-evaluating Russia’s Influence in the Armenia-Azerbaijan Dispute
The significant outflow of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh following the events of September 19–20, 2023, and the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Azerbaijan on April 17, 2024, signals a potential shift…
