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This chapter reviews the challenges facing educational research and knowledge production, in the independent post-Soviet Central Asia through examination of the case of Tajikistan. The chapter revisits issues discussed in Niyozov and Bahry (2006) on the need for research-based approaches to with these challenges, taking up Tlostanova’s (2015) challenge to see Central Asian educational history as repeated intellectual colonization, decolonization, and recolonization leading her to question whether Central Asians can think, or must simply accept policies and practices that travel from elsewhere. The authors respond by reviewing Tajikistan as representative in many aspects, if not all particulars, of the entire region. Part one of the review describes data sources, analyses, and our positionalities. Part two reviews decolonization in comparative, international, and development education and in post-Soviet education. Part three describes education research and knowledge production types and their key features. Thereafter, the authors discuss additional challenges facing Tajikistan’s and the region’s knowledge production and link them to the possibilities of decolonization discourse. The authors conclude by suggesting realistic steps the country’s scholars and their comparative international education colleagues may take to move toward developing both research capacity and decolonization of knowledge pursuits in Tajikistan and Central Asia.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the perspectives of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Belt and Road strategy. The challenge in terms of studying the New Silk Road concept comes from the fact of dramatic difference between the declared ambitions of the Chinese state and the elusive character of concrete Chinese involvement, in particular as far as the digital dimension of the strategy is concerned.

The goal will be achieved by comparing the Chinese expansion in the Post-Soviet Central Asia with nowadays declarations concerning the digital version of the New Silk Road. For China, the Post-Soviet Central Asia was the first frontier approached on the basis of genuinely own integration strategy: the New Silk Road Diplomacy, which later evolved into the New Silk Road concept. An overview of Chinese activity in the region tells a lot about its grand strategy of today.

To paraphrase T.S. Kuhn, what one sees depends on not only what one is looking at but also what one has learned to notice. The Post-Soviet Central Asia shows the way Beijing thinks about integration. PRC achieved the most by basing on the free rider effect: concentrating on economic expansion, while other Powers provided relative regional security and stability.

The comparison of the beginnings of the New Silk Diplomacy in the 1990s with the plans of the New Digital Road gives a unique angle to grasp the specific features of the Chinese approach to international integration.

This chapter examines issues of sustainability in regard to post-Soviet Central Asian urban centers via a case study of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. This urban center of approximately one million people is the largest in the Kyrgyz Republic, and one of the larger cities in Central Asia. Dubbed “the Tree City” during the Soviet Era, it, like other Central Asian population centers, occupies an oasis-like environment at the foot of a major mountain range, the Ala-Too Range of the Tian Shan (Mts.). This major mountain massif, which extends across the northern part of Central Asia and on into North-West China, has numerous peaks more than 4,000 m high and many glaciers. It is these snowfields that provide most of the water used by the city of Bishkek and its suburbs.

The findings represented herein are based on ethnographic field observations and interviews conducted in 2006–2007 and 2013–2014. A variety of documentary resources were accessed as well.

During Soviet times, Bishkek and its environs were the location of industrial complexes focused on the processing of minerals and agricultural produce, much of which was shipped to other republics within the USSR. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, many of these industrial sites have fallen into disuse and disrepair. So, while Bishkek has numerous “socialist” planned parks, long-established green spaces, and a relatively large “urban forest” along major boulevards and thoroughfares, it is also dotted with abandoned factories, warehouses, and crumbling infrastructure. In parts of the city, and especially around its perimeter, urban fruit and vegetable gardens have reappeared, as many residents had to return to subsistence gardening to provide basic food needs for their households.

In the last decade, however, the local economy has begun to diversify and grow. This has brought more cars to the streets and a substantial number of new businesses and building projects, along with increasing amounts of air, water, and noise pollution. Concomitant with this new development has been the emergence of a nascent green movement, the establishment of environmental organizations, and a small but growing “green consciousness” as witnessed by the creation of new recycling programs, increased bicycle travel, and related activities pointing toward a more sustainable future.

In this chapter, the relative sustainability (social, cultural, economic, and ecological) of this Central Asian urban center are considered as it has emerged from its Soviet past to become the focal point of new enterprises, including a small but growing ecotourism industry. Bishkek, in common with other major cities of this region, which is far from the moderating influences of the sea, must adapt to the realities of what are likely to be increasingly severe climate change impacts – increased average annual temperatures, the rapid retreat of mountain glaciers and a reduction in the essential waters that they provide, and increasingly severe and numerous periods of drought. Whether or not Bishkek can successfully adapt to these changes and emerge as a more sustainable city remains to be seen.

The New Silk Road Diplomacy in the Nineties, the Belt and Road Initiative today, and the Digital Silk Road of the future signal growing Chinese ambitions in international relations. The bold plans and visions may turn into fundaments of future Chinese domination in World affairs. However, the ways they are to be achieved indicate, that the Chinese policy-making did not adapt yet to new reality of being a leader rather than a free-rider taking advantage of other Powers’ international involvement. The goal of the chapter is to point to the limitations of PRC ambitions. Qualitatively new international reality requires qualitatively new approaches. China, if it does not realize that, despite being one of the biggest surprises in terms of dynamics of development in twentieth century, may become one of the biggest disappointments in twenty-first century. The World seems to accept the fact of growing PRC role in international dimensions. The question is, is China ready for this change not only in words but also in practice.

Over the past decades, Islamic finance has expanded its presence to many countries including Muslim-majority post-Soviet Central Asian and Transcaucasian region. Undoubtedly, this expansion has aroused keen interest among the representatives of a range of areas such as science, politics and business. The purpose of this paper is to describe the scope, the key players and the main investment strategies of the Islamic finance market based on the evidence obtained from Kyrgyzstan.

The main empirical corpus was formed from Bureau van Dijk’s databases (Zephyr and Orbis) and includes approximately 80 deals involving Shariah-compliant investments in Kyrgyzstan from 1991 to 2020. The initial corpus was then significantly expanded by means of content analysis of open media sources. Being still insufficient for deeper generalization, these data were further complemented by the analysis of an array of corporate information (press releases, presentations and financial reports) related to the identified deals. To ensure the credibility of the conclusions to be made on the nature of Islamic finance in Kyrgyzstan, the desk analysis was also complemented with field research using qualitative method of in-depth expert interviews.

This paper has shown that despite the yet modest market volumes represented by Islamic bank, Islamic windows, Islamic leasing company and microfinance companies, Islamic finance in Kyrgyz Republic has further growth prospects, which are associated with the arrival of large foreign Islamic banks that bring innovative financial products, the issuance of Islamic securities (sukuk) and launch of Islamic insurance (takaful). Being more open and consistent in the development of Islamic finance industry, the authorities of Kyrgyzstan understand the need for the initial development of the market by their own forces.

This paper is original and up-to-date, as it contains new and significant information. Suggesting a new approach to studying Islamic finance in post-Soviet area, this paper identifies the most active Islamic investors in Kyrgyzstan, classifies them, reveals their investment strategies and assesses the financial performance of Islamic investors as well as the total volume of Shariah-compliant capital in Kyrgyzstan. The findings of this paper can contribute to shaping policies toward Islamic finance in the post-Soviet region and, therefore, may be beneficial to the development of Islamic finance industry.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the money attitudes among students at English-language business schools in the transitioning Central Asian nations of the former USSR, namely, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

The survey was carried out in 2017, using previously established measures of Love of Money survey questionnaire. Over 300 undergraduate students in English-language business degree programs in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan participated in the survey. A few hypotheses were tested using three-way MANOVA to test the influence of three factors (country, gender and student years). In addition, post hoc analysis, and one- and two-way ANOVA methods were used for multiple comparisons.

The results showed evidence of increasing convergence among students who are farther along in the program. Some statistically significant differences were also found, mainly in regard to gender differences in money attitudes across countries and student levels. The results of statistical analysis suggest a need for further research on attitudes and values related to money in the modern nation states of Central Asia.

This study is one of first attempts to study the values and attitudes regarding money among the first generation of business students who were born and grew up after their respective countries gained independence. The findings imply the development of a relatively homogeneous labor pool for business organizations across regions that are characterized by increasing differentiation among countries within the region.

This paper aims to examine the shift away from the traditional distinction between organised crime and terrorist groups towards their conceptual convergence under the crime-terror nexus narrative in the context of international security and development policy in post-Soviet Central Asia. It assesses the empirical basis for the crime-terror and state-crime nexus in three Central Asian countries – Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – and argues that the exclusion of the state from the analytical framework undermines the relevance of the crime-terror paradigm for policy-making.

This paper draws on a literature review of academic research, recent case studies highlighting new empirical evidence in Central Asia and international policy publications.

There is a weak empirical connection between organised crime and Islamic extremists, such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Hizbut Tahrir, in Central Asia. The state-crime paradigm, including concepts of criminal capture, criminal sovereignty and criminal penetration, hold more explanatory power for international policy in Central Asia. The crime-terror paradigm has resulted in a narrow and ineffective security-oriented law enforcement approach to counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism but does not address the underlying weak state governance structures and political grievances that motivate organised crime and terrorist groups respectively.

International policy and scholarship is currently focussed on the areas of convergence between organised crime and terrorist groups. This paper highlights the continued relevance of the traditional conceptual separation of terrorist and organised crime groups based on their different motives, methods and relationship with the state, for security and democratic governance initiatives in the under-researched Central Asian region.

This chapter explores the current development of Comparative Education in Central Asia through two parts: a general review of knowledge production with reference to Central Asia in top Comparative Education journals, followed by the development of Comparative Education in Kazakhstan as well as its policy priorities as an example. The example of Kazakhstan shows that scholars, policy-makers, international organizations, and educational practitioners have long been active in comparison in the country. However, the organizational trajectory, particularly the lack of a formal academic program and textbooks in its national languages, is slowing down the pace for Comparative Education to grow into a full-fledged academic field.