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OUR PROJECT

The upcoming conference is organized within the 2024–2026 research project “Cross-Border Cooperation of Kazakhstan with Neighboring Countries of Central Asia”, supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Project aims

The project aims to conceptualize the range of problems, practices, and outcomes of Kazakhstan’s cross-border cooperation with the countries of Central Asia in the post-Soviet period. Based on this conceptualization, the project develops recommendations for strengthening such cooperation, taking into account theory and international experience of cross-border cooperation.

The project also pays particular attention to overcoming Eurocentrism in the conceptualization of cross-border cooperation and to theorizing the specific features of cross-border cooperation in Central Asia.

Project team

Sergei Golunov — Doctor of Political Science, Professor

Svetlana Kozhirova — Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor

Azhar Serikkalieva — PhD, Associate Professor

Vera Smirnova — Candidate of Historical Sciences

Assel Bitabar — Associate Professor

Publications

Golunov, Sergei and Assel Bitabar. Bridging Borders: Central Asian Cross-Border Cooperation in a Comparative Global Perspective. SpringerBriefs in Political Science. Cham: Springer Nature, 2025.

Golunov, Sergei. “Beyond Eurocentrism: Rethinking Cross-Border Cooperation in a Global Context.” Alternatives: Global, Local, Political. 2025. DOI: 10.1177/03043754251380323.

Serikkalieva, Azhar. 2025. “The Impact of China’s Experience in Cross-Border Freight Transportation and Its Relevance for Kazakhstan’s Border Cooperation with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan: Lessons from COVID-19 [in Russian].” Kazakhstan-Spektr 113, no. 1. https://doi.org/10.52536/2415-8216.2025.113.1.004

Kozhirova, Svetlana and Kairat Batyrbaev. 2025. “Kazakhstan–Turkmenistan Cross-Border Relations: Dynamics of Cooperation, Challenges, and Prospects for Development [in Russian].” Izvestiya. Series: International Relations and Regional Studies 61, no. 3: 251–268.
https://doi.org/10.48371/ISMO.2025.61.3.015

Smirnova, Vera. 2024. “Cross-Border Cooperation in the Field of Healthcare in the European Region: Relevance for Kazakhstan [in Russian].” Izvestiya. Series: International Relations and Regional Studies 57, no. 3. https://doi.org/10.48371/ISMO.2024.57.3.017

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