Decolonization of Central Asia

Russia’s historical legacy in Central Asia has received increasing attention in the region since Russia launched an all-out war in Ukraine. Many Russians, including officials, claim—and some insist—that Russia’s colonization of Central Asia was good for the region. A growing number of Central Asians are beginning to come to different conclusions, reassessing the years of Russian and Soviet rule and how Central Asia’s future relationship with Russia should develop. Joining host Bruce Pannier to discuss this issue are Erica Marat, professor of political science at the National Defense University in Washington and an expert on Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan, Diana Kudaibergen, a political sociologist at the University of Cambridge who will move to University College London this fall, and Azamat Junisbai, a professor and sociologist at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. Both Kudaibergen and Junisbai are from Kazakhstan.