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What Does Russia’s Ukraine Invasion Mean for Central Asia?

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What Does Russia’s Ukraine Invasion Mean for Central Asia?

Asel Doolotkeldieva, Bruce Pannier, Temur Umarov, and Colleen Wood discuss the economic, political, and diplomatic fallout for Central Asia.

Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, the newly independent states of Central Asia have remained politically, economically, socially, and culturally linked to Russia. But when it came time for the world’s countries to vote either to support or condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the states of Central Asia either abstained or stayed silent.

How have Central Asian governments and publics responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine? How will the events in Ukraine reverberate across the former Soviet Union, from the edges of Europe to the Central Asian heartland? In this webinar, recorded on March 15, four experts discuss how the war in Ukraine will ripple across Central Asia economically, politically, and diplomatically.

Featuring Dr. Asel Doolotkeldieva, a senior lecturer at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; Bruce Pannier, a long-time analyst and journalist focusing on Central Asia; Temur Umarov, an expert on China and Central Asia with the Carnegie Endowment; and Colleen Wood, a Ph.D. student at Columbia University’s Political Science Department; and moderated by Catherine Putz, The Diplomat’s managing editor.