A Chat in the Yurt - Episode XXIV: Regional Identity

Step into our Yurt and join us for a monthly conversation on Europe-Central Asia developments. In these series of podcasts EUCAM welcomes guests from both regions to discuss exciting new research and the latest developments in Europe and Central Asia. Guests range from academics to policymakers and from journalists to civil society activists. What is happening in Europe that Central Asians should know about? What events are unfolding in Central Asia that Europeans should understand? Together, we discuss society trends, political developments, and economic turns while assessing the past and looking ahead to what may unfold. In this episode, hosts Rashid Gabdulhakov and Kamila Smagulova meet with Timur Dadabaev, who is a Professor of International Relations and the Director of the Special Programme for Japanese and Eurasian Studies at the Graduate School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Tsukuba in Japan. Timur explains how Central Asian regional identity evolves distinctly from Eastern Europe, Russia or South Asia while it has an inclusive disposition towards different local and external influences. In this way Central Asian countries can accept their Soviet past, use Turkish connectivity, and work with China, Europe and Russia. In a frank exchange Timur, Kamila and Rashid discuss the differences between Central Asian and European regional identities. They also address how youth can percieve regional identity, that seems weak 'at home' but strong 'abroad'.