Kazakhstan: What Next? Understanding the Protests and the Post Protest Political Context

An online event hosted by the Central Asia Program at George Washington University and co-sponsored with the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs, and RFE/RL on January 21, 2022.

It’s been over a week since the massive protests that took the lives of at least 225 people. How can we begin to understand the diversity of reasons for the public dissent that emerged from various regions of the country? What should we think of the official narrative concerning Islamist involvement? What will be the government’s next steps in terms of repressing activism? How can President Tokayev make good on the promises of reform that he has made and who are the ultimate winners and losers in this situation among the political elites?

Speakers

Dosym Satpayev, Director of Kazakhstan Risk Assessment Group and a member of the presidium of the Kazakhstan Council on International Relations;

Diana T. Kudaibergenova, Lecturer at the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge;

Azamat K. Junisbai, Professor of Sociology at Pitzer College in Claremont, California;

Dinissa Duvanova, Associate Professor, International Relations, Lehigh University;

Bruce Pannier, Journalist and Correspondent covering Central Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty;

Moderator: Marlene Laruelle, Director and Research Professor, the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES), The George Washington University.