In his book, Nomads and Soviet Rule: Central Asia under Lenin and Stalin (I.B. Tauris, 2018), Alun Thomas examines the experiences of Kazakh and Kyrgyz nomads in the NEP (New Economic Policy) period and demonstrates the Soviet state’s treatment of nomads to be far complex and pragmatic. He shows how Soviet policy was informed by both an anti-colonial spirit and …

Cambridge Trust and the University of Central Asia signed an agreement extending their partnership to develop faculty across Central Asia for a further three years.   High Asia Herald Report   The head of the Cambridge University has underscored the importance of freedom of enquiry on campuses. “The spirit of free enquiry that underpins higher education does not flourish behind …

The four brothers at the heart of the Abdukadyr family business. Photo OCCRP. Tycoon at the centre of the Kyrgyz corruption scandal poured millions into EU, US real estate, reveals a report by a consortium of investigative journalists. Herald Report A Central Asian cargo tycoon at the centre of controversy in Kyrgyzstan over massive sums spirited out of the country …

Herald Report Soviet architecture in Central Asia, as the name tells, is a fusion of Soviet modernity with traditional Central Asian culture that remains remarkable to this day, writes Xeniya Mironova, in Voice on Central Asia website. Persian and Islamic motifs can be still found among Soviet buildings in Dushanbe, Tashkent, Almaty, and Bishkek. But these buildings are becoming exceedingly …

Border dynamics, natural resources, and mobility in Central Asia

The Gapar Aitiev Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts has played a significant role in exploring and preserving the rich history of Kyrgyzstan’s applied and fine arts for nearly a century.

On the last night of his life, Khusan Kerimov had a package to deliver: $1.6 million in cash. Late in the evening on October 22, he headed to Manas International Airport, a half-hour outside of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. It was a routine the 39-year-old taxi driver had down cold, having made the trip dozens of times. Usually, it ran like clockwork: He would call a prearranged number, meet …

  HAH Report Shelley Fairweather-Vega, a Seattle-based writer and translator. She translates literature from Russian and Uzbek languages into English. She collaborates with authors, academics, and activists around the world and has worked on projects as varied as Russian poetry, Uzbek historical fiction, popular science, romance, and detective stories. She is a founder of the literary translation circle in Seattle, …

President Sooronbai Jeenbekov highlighted digital transformation goals for Kyrgyzstan  Herald Report Bishkek, (Kyrgyzstan): Technology experts, academics, researchers and government officials at an international conference highlighted the increasing role of information and communication technology in the governance system, public and private enterprise management, education and research. They discussed the latest approaches to solving intriguing challenges in the fields of data collection and …

In the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, thousands of young girls and women are kidnapped every year to be forced into marriage. Although the practice was outlawed in 2013, bride kidnapping continues to exist, with destructive consequences for society. By Iris Oppelaar With WILDNESS, Iris aims to de-sensationalize the practice of bride kidnapping and instead reveal the motives and societal …