Program on Central Asia

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
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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.

Initiatives and Projects

Wind turbins in Kazakhstan prairie

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 countries east and west of the Caspian Sea. 

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.

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. 

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.

Black Sea Lab

Black Sea Lab

The Black Sea Lab is an exploratory collaboration across research initiatives at the Davis Center, consisting of a series of conversations to assess scholarly trends and new avenues of inquiry related to security challenges in the Black Sea region.

Related Insights

Putin and Tokayev

Kazakhstan and Russia Post-2022: Sources of Contention, Points of Pressure

After 30 years of remarkable stability in bilateral ties, Russia has become the biggest and most important unknown variable in Kazakhstan’s foreseeable future, writes Nargis Kassenova, director of our Program on Central Asia.

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basket of candy and Davis Center stickers

Davis Center at ASEEES in Washington, Nov. 20-23

If you're attending this year's conference, come hear our scholars speak on Ukrainian refugees and Belarusian partisans, Russian imperial history, authoritarian rule in Georgia and Central Asia, and much more.

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Toward New Transnational/Transimperial Histories of Central Asia Conference group photo

Shaping New Histories of Central Asia

A major conference, co-organized by the Davis Center, considers how to rethink and revise historical narratives for a region that has traditionally been viewed as a realm of inter-imperial competition.

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Related Events

swings in Kazakhstan during Nauryz Celebration
Upcoming Event

Nauryz in Kazakhstan: Reinvention from Colonial Times to the Late Soviet Era

Join us to learn how the Nauryz celebration (traditional Kazakh New Year) has changed over time, how it reflects broader changes in Kazakh society—from colonial rule to socialist modernization—and how traditions are reshaped to fit new political and cultural realities.

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Backlash book
Past Event

Backlash: China’s Struggle for Influence in Central Asia

In their new book Backlash: China's Struggle for Influence in Central Asia, Edward Lemon and Bradley Jardine show that China’s power projection is far from a one-way street—it is negotiated, resisted, and reshaped by local actors across Central Asia.

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Amb. George Krol and Amb. John E. Herbst
Past Event

Reality and Illusion: US and Central Asia Since the End of the Cold War

Join former U.S. Ambassador George Krol as he explores the past, present, and future of U.S. relations with the post-Soviet states of Central Asia.

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