Alun Thomas
@alunrthomas.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Eurasian Studies at University of Staffordshire. Interested in Central Asia and Russia. Branch Development Officer for Staffs UCU.
Reposted by Alun Thomas
Since this wound up being a popular thread, sharing an excellent backgrounder on the elections in Kyrgyzstan from @aijanco.bsky.social in The Diplomat: thediplomat.com/2025/11/is-p...
Is Politics Dead in Kyrgyzstan?
As snap parliamentary elections approach, there’s a distinct lack of energy or interest.
thediplomat.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Since this wound up being a popular thread, sharing an excellent backgrounder on the elections in Kyrgyzstan from @aijanco.bsky.social in The Diplomat: thediplomat.com/2025/11/is-p...
Reposted by Alun Thomas
Instead of building on Bishkek’s advantages (it was such a lush and green city, trolleybuses, new bike lanes). The authorities are going tabula rasa with the promise of a bombastic leap into the future, an attempt to imitate Almaty, Tashkent and the Gulf states all at once
October 27, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Instead of building on Bishkek’s advantages (it was such a lush and green city, trolleybuses, new bike lanes). The authorities are going tabula rasa with the promise of a bombastic leap into the future, an attempt to imitate Almaty, Tashkent and the Gulf states all at once
Bishkek (Frunze) was in a tough spot following the Civil War, and local authorities were loath to let herders compromise its fragile urban envionment. They did, though, and not as a sop to the ideology of national emancipation, but for reasons of economic and political pragmatism 2/2
September 29, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Bishkek (Frunze) was in a tough spot following the Civil War, and local authorities were loath to let herders compromise its fragile urban envionment. They did, though, and not as a sop to the ideology of national emancipation, but for reasons of economic and political pragmatism 2/2
100%. Management do this also and its effect is to bring you into complicity with the idea that we are all just trading equally valid 'narratives', when in fact some of us are speaking more truthfully than others.
August 28, 2025 at 4:57 PM
100%. Management do this also and its effect is to bring you into complicity with the idea that we are all just trading equally valid 'narratives', when in fact some of us are speaking more truthfully than others.
Earlier this year I was looking at documents about the clearing of land for the construction of the airport and its connecting road. And a little warning about the dangers of digital automation: the code change has played havoc with some flight bookings I've been making.
August 12, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Earlier this year I was looking at documents about the clearing of land for the construction of the airport and its connecting road. And a little warning about the dangers of digital automation: the code change has played havoc with some flight bookings I've been making.
Oh wait I was on at 9 😅
June 7, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Oh wait I was on at 9 😅
Reposted by Alun Thomas
Basically I said the statue story is about the local politics of Osh, and the big question (which I don't think I've seen answered yet?) is less why Lenin came down, but who replaces him on that plinth...
June 7, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Basically I said the statue story is about the local politics of Osh, and the big question (which I don't think I've seen answered yet?) is less why Lenin came down, but who replaces him on that plinth...
Basically I said the statue story is about the local politics of Osh, and the big question (which I don't think I've seen answered yet?) is less why Lenin came down, but who replaces him on that plinth...
June 7, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Basically I said the statue story is about the local politics of Osh, and the big question (which I don't think I've seen answered yet?) is less why Lenin came down, but who replaces him on that plinth...
I had the same dilemma and decided to skip, I have no special insight so I won't try to justify that decision, but it was a combination of resentment and anxiety.
May 28, 2025 at 6:44 PM
I had the same dilemma and decided to skip, I have no special insight so I won't try to justify that decision, but it was a combination of resentment and anxiety.
*not all other countries. Plenty do.
May 18, 2025 at 8:03 PM
*not all other countries. Plenty do.
...and universities will say: we don't have an expert in x or y because the postdoc who was going to be that expert was let go 10 years ago. Other countries don't have the structures to foster hugely diverse homegrown academic expertise. We are squandering our inheritance. 2/2
May 18, 2025 at 7:59 PM
...and universities will say: we don't have an expert in x or y because the postdoc who was going to be that expert was let go 10 years ago. Other countries don't have the structures to foster hugely diverse homegrown academic expertise. We are squandering our inheritance. 2/2