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1st ORASAM Conference on Central Asia:
Politics and International Relations
Date and venue: Friday June 5th, 2015, Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University(KTMU),
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Conference Organizers: Seyit Avcu (Ph.D., Director, ORASAM (Central Asian
Research Center, KTMU) and Jon Mahoney (Ph.D., Associate Professor,
Philosophy, Kansas State University, Fulbright Scholar 2014-15, Kyrgyz
Republic)
Description: The focus will be on contemporary politics and international
relations, although papers that offer an historical perspective on contemporary
political problems and challenges in Central Asia will also be considered. There
is no registration fee and participants will be provided with lunch and dinner. For
those traveling to Bishkek, up to 10 speakers will be provided with one
night’s lodging in Bishkek. The conference organizers regret that speakers will
have to cover their own transportation costs to and from Bishkek. The
conference organizers are especially interested in proposals that address topics
such as:
---The prospects for democracy in Central Asia
---Religious freedom and state religion policies
---The status of ethnic minorities
---Border conflicts and their impact on regional politics
---The political and economic impact of the Eurasian Customs Union on
Central Asia
---The influence of global powers (e.g. Russia, China, Turkey, and the U.S.)
on Central Asian states
---The geopolitical significance of resource conflicts (e.g. over water
resources) in Central Asia
---Terrorism and the prospects for political instability in Central Asia
---The prospect of succession crises in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and
Kazakhstan
Interested participants should submit a short proposal (approximately 150 words)
including title and author information (email address and institutional affiliation)
as an email attachment in either Word or PDF no later than Monday May 4th,
2015. Proposals in English should be submitted to both Jon Mahoney
(jmahoney@ksu.edu) and to ORASAM
(orasammanas@gmail.com).
A small selection of the best papers will be considered for publication in the
October, 2015 edition of Manas Journal of Social Studies (MJSS).