First International Conference on Uyghur Studies – History, Culture, and Society
The Uyghurs are one of the ten most populous stateless nations in the world. While they have a long history of cultural accomplishments and political influences, they have remained marginal…
The Transition Economies of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan: Old Habits, New Approaches
with Farrukh Irnazarov, Visiting Research Associate, Johns Hopkins University and Roman Vakulchuk, Senior Research Fellow, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), Oslo, Norway This presentation assesses the market transition path…
Cinema Club Film Screening: The Needle
Directed by Rashid Nugmanov (Kazakhstan, 1988) In the bleak filmscape of glasnost, The Needle stood out as a black sheep of a movie. The most playful and offbeat of the…
Hydrocarbons, Governance and Social Accountability in Russia and Central Asia
1:00-2:00pm Keynote Speaker Marc-Antoine Perouse de Montclos (French Institute of Geopolitics, University Paris 8, France) Oil and Social Accountability in Russia 2:00-3:30pm Session 1. Hydrocarbons and Governance in Eurasia Sergei…
Prospects for Regional Integration in Central Asia
12:00-12:30pm Lunch 12:30pm Opening remarks. DCM Yerkin Akhinzhanov, Kazakhstan Embassy in the United States Fatema Z. Sumar, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs at the…
Islam in Eurasia
Eurasia is often a forgotten space on the radar of the public opinion and the policy community looking at the Islamic world. However, Eurasia offers diversity of Islamic traditions, including…
Cinema Club Film Screening: Pure Coolness
Directed by Ernest Abdyjaparov (Kyrgyzstan, 2007) Asema gets engaged to Murat and the two go to Murat's hometown, where the traditional Kyrgyzstani culture remains. One day, Asema learns of a plan…
Between Co-operation and Insulation: Afghanistan’s Relations with the Central Asian Republics
with Dr. Christian Bleuer, Afghanistan Analysts NetworkChristian Bleuer will give a presentation based on recent field research and his Afghanistan Analysts Network report "Between Co-operation and Insulation: Afghanistan’s Relations with the…
First Turkmen Culture Club
Turkmenistan's rich culture is less well-known than those great empires who contributed to it, but Turkmenistan has produced its own fascinating - though under-appreciated - art, music, literature, and cinema.…
Re-imagining “post-Soviet” Central Asia: The role of the GCC and articulating geopolitical identities through capital cities.
With Natalie Koch,Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse UniversityIn the newly independent states of Central Asia, geopolitical practices and affinities cannot be understood in isolation from their Soviet heritage.…
Police in Afghanistan: Continuing the Mission and Defining the Future
with Major General Masood Ahmad Azizi, MoI Deputy Minister for Strategy and Policy Police are the long-term security solution to targeting the enablers of insurgency and criminals Securing the public's trust by the…
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…
Kazakh security policy and its position as a vanguard for East-West cooperation
with Dr. Marcel de Haas, Professor, Nazarbayev University This presentation first describes the foundations of Kazakh security policy, i.e. the key security-related documents, especially the Law on National Security, the Military…
Cinema Club Film Screening: Days Gone By (O’tgan kunlar/Minuvshie dni)
Directed by Yuldash Azgamov (Uzbekistan, 1969) In partnership with the Uzbekistan Embassy in Washington, DC Central Asia Program and the Uzbekistan Embassy are happy to invite you to attend the…
The Curious Rise and Development of Central Asian Nationalisms
with Dr. Russell Zanca, Northeastern Illinois University This presentation examines scholarly notions about post-Soviet Central Asia’s future close to the the time of the Soviet dissolution. Given the rather different…
From Empires of Faith to Nationalizations of Islam & the Globalization of Jihad in Central Asia
with Nazif Shahrani, Indiana University This seminar will discuss the versatility, uses and abuses of Islam as religion by the faithful and its various deployments by the political elites for…
VISIONS OF UZBEKISTAN
"Visions of Uzbekistan" is an exhibition sponsored in partnership with the Embassy of Uzbekistan which will run from January 8, 2015 - February 7, 2015.Uzbekistan is located at the heart of Central Asia, neighboring world civilizations such as China, Persia, and India, and connecting to…
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…
Cinema Club Film Screening: Hasan Arbakesh
Directed by Boris Kimiagarov (Tajikistan, 1965)Hasan is young and handsome, he is strong and knows what he needs in life and love, in addition to that, inspires him. But then…
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…
Regulation of Blogger’s Activity in Uzbekistan: Implications for Freedom of Religion and Belief
with Mirakmal Niyazmatov, Lawyer and Co-Founder of TashabbusIn September 2014, Uzbek government introduced amendments to the Law "On Informatization." The amendments imposed vague restrictions on blogging. Uzbek bloggers are now…
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…
The First Bolashak Seminar
9:00am Opening Remarks.Marlene Laruelle (Central Asia Program, IERES, GWU) 9:15-10:00 Panel 1. Societal transformations in Kazakhstan Serik Beissembayev (Social Found “Centre for Social and Political Studies Strategy”) Symbolic Boundaries of Ethnic…
Shrine, State and Sacred Lineage in Modern Kazakhstan
with Ulan Bigozhin, Indiana UniversityMany scholars have argued that shrine veneration and respect for sacred lineages are essential parts of Islam in post-Soviet Central Asia because of their long history in…
