Program on Central Asia

Scholar-Entrepreneur Initiative

The Program on Central Asia promotes research and teaching at Harvard on the history and current affairs of five Central Asian countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Yurt with cows grazing in the background

Song-Kol Lake, Kyrgyzstan

Isabelle DeSisto A.B./A.M. '20

We support the study of the Central Asian region using tools and insights from various fields of social sciences and humanities. Our activities include research projects, seminar series, curriculum development and course offerings, creation of digital resources for the study of the region, facilitation of research by students and visiting scholars, and cultural events. 

While the program aims at generating and disseminating knowledge and resources on Central Asia spanning different periods of its history, our main focus is on the independence period and current developments. We approach Central Asia as a region that opened up as a result of the dissolution of the USSR. The states, economies, and people of Central Asia are now an integral part of the globalized world, and developments in the region cannot be properly understood without tracing and analyzing different forms of connectivity, influence, and interdependence.

Our Projects

Wind turbins in Kazakhstan prairie

Renewable Energy Transition in Central Asia

RETCA addresses energy security challenges and environmental problems in Central Asia by studying the governance and politics of the region’s green energy transition. 

Caspiana Logo

Caspiana

Caspiana: A Digital Toolbox for Students and Scholars of Central Asia and the South Caucasus is a resource to facilitate research on the regions east and west of the Caspian Sea. 

Apartments with satellite dishes atop and mountains in the background

Regions and China's Belt and Road Initiative

This seminar seeks to foster vibrant, comprehensive, and fruitful discussion on the ongoing transformations in geopolitics and governance triggered by the BRI. 

grassy plains and mountains

Central Asia and Caucasus Seminar

A series of public seminars on topics in the history, culture, and politics of the Central Asia region.

Sign in Uzbekistan that says, “Welcome, American friends!”

American Diplomats in Central Asia

The accounts of American diplomats who worked in the 1990s and first decade of 2000s shed light on this dramatic period of global history and reveal behind-the-scenes workings of international politics.

Related Insights

Rachabalizoda

Terror Attack in Russia Shines Spotlight on ISIS-K Recruiting Among Central Asians

Davis Center associate Vera Mironova, who has spent years studying militants from the ex-USSR, says that Russia’s war mobilization may have turned the concert hall outside Moscow into a relatively easy target.

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The GTL plant in Qashqadaryo, Uzbekistan

Can Fossil Fuel-Dependent Central Asia Reach Climate Goals?

Davis Center visiting scholar Rahat Sabyrbekov explores the region’s climate change challenges, spotlighting original work on decarbonization efforts in the region.

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Central Asian foreign ministers gather in China in May 2021

How China’s Foreign Aid Fosters Social Bonds With Central Asian Ruling Elites

A mix of gifts and interpersonal elite ties marks China’s approach to Central Asia, contrasting starkly with a Western approach focused on political norms and principles, writes Nargis Kassenova.

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Related Events

1990 Dushanbe Riots
Upcoming Event

Moscow’s Heavy Shadow: The Violent Collapse of the USSR

In his new book "Moscow’s Heavy Shadow" Isaac McKean Scarborough explores Tajikistan's descent into bloody civil war in the early 1990s and argues that armed conflict has accompanied the extended Soviet collapse since the beginning and until today.

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"GOK" film poster.
Past Event

Behind the Lens and Censorship

Join us for an evening with acclaimed Kazakhstani filmmaker Olzhas Bayalbayev and a screening of his captivating short film "GOK," depicting the dramatic takeover of a mining and ore-processing plant in northern Kazakhstan. 

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Caravan of horses halted with hills rising in the background
Past Event

Muslim Emigration From Late Tsarist and Early Soviet Central Asia

This talk will explore developments that led to mass displacement, including the Central Asian revolt of 1916, civil war in 1917–23, Soviet reforms in the 1920s, and the Kazakh famine of 1930–33, paying particular attention to settler colonial violence and the loss of Muslim sovereignties in Central Asia.

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