Ahead of President Putin's arrival in Kyrgyzstan for high-level talks and the CSTO summit, a colossal welcome billboard was erected in Bishkek. This display was positioned with deliberate precision, effectively obscuring the Ukrainian Embassy from view...

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Are you a bachelor or master's student interested in authoritarian politics? @fabioangiolillo.bsky.social is recruiting an intern to work on authoritarian political parties and with the APSG team in-person at the University of Gothenburg. Email your application by Nov 28 to fabio.angiolillo@gu.se

Absolutely shocking that the Chinese govt pressured a UK university to shut down research about forced labour in Xinjiang and the links to global supply chains. The work of Laura Murphy and her team had been instrumental in getting Chinese companies sanctioned.

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

#OpenAccess from @nationalitiesp.bsky.social -

“Much is Done, But to Make People Forget:” The Story of Jeltoqsan in Kazakhstani History Textbooks - https://cup.org/476C3OW

- @berikboldukeyev.bsky.social

#FirstView

Alatau – a digital city without internet and roads

vlast.kz/regiony/6681...

Celtic have been sent crashing out of the Champions League at the play-off stage against Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan.

Brendan Rodgers' side lost 3-2 on penalties after two goalless draws, with Adam Idah, Luke McCowan and Daizen Maeda all missing their spot-kicks.

Great to be in Almaty this week, presenting my paper on personnel appointments in authoritarian bureaucracies at the PolEcon in Eurasia conference at ALMAU.

Excellent colleagues, plov, and mountains 🇰🇿

Uzbekistan have qualified for the men’s World Cup for the first time.

didn't realise this short documentary about Central Asia featuring yours truly (and shot in my new UCL office) is already out!
Also in a great company with Alexander Morrisson, Madeleine Reeves, and Paul Wordsworth!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfXc...

Great to get feedback on papers on elite rotation + local elections in Kazakhstan and to chair a fantastic panel on gender in autocracy at the political economy of Eurasia mini-conference at #MPSA. Special thanks to Valeria Umanets for organising!

Central Asia’s “frankly bonkers” March heatwave, which saw temperatures up to 10C above pre-industrial levels, was intensified by climate change, according to new research published as countries around the world suffer exceptional spring weather.
www.ft.com/content/164a...

Bureaucratic football patronalism?

'The ex-management of the Kazakhstan FA groundlessly gave bonuses to select employees... construction of the new training base, which began in 2021, is frozen, and the contractor's accounts are blocked.'

vlast.kz/novosti/6441...

unsurprisingly Central Asian international football ⚽️ teams score highly if their fixtures were calculated as Scrabble scores

paging @ymatusik.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/football/202...

MP blames "underground battle" of ancien regime in #Kazakhstan, meaning Nazarbayev circles, for fact that govt not delivering everything people want, which is debatable. Tokayev's New Kazakhstan also seems reluctant to liberalise tengrinews.kz/kazakhstan_n...

Great news. 'Dark Shadows' is very good – can't wait for this!

Tolganai Umbetalieva on team-building in Aqorda: '... the person must be familiar to Tokayev. Professionalism is not taken into account. Tokayev is absolutely not interested in educational requirements, experience ... He knows the person: this is the main factor.'

rus.azattyq.org/a/karernyy-v...