Category: Society
Gilgit-Baltistan: Who Benefits from Development in Pakistan’s Mountain North?
Tourism, infrastructure and investment are transforming Gilgit-Baltistan, but who benefits from the region's growing economic importance? Nadia Ali, researcher at BICC-Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies, discusses political representation, contested… [...]
In Kazakhstan, Military Service Continues to Worry Young Men
As Kazakhstan launches its autumn conscription campaign, many young men are going to great lengths to avoid military service. In Astana, accounts of forced recruitment, violence and abuse in the… [...]
From Madrid to Kabul: An Afghan Diplomat on Spain, the Taliban and the Republic’s Collapse
Five years after the Taliban's return to power, former Afghan diplomat Hamed Wahdat Ahmadzada reflects on the collapse of the Afghan Republic, Spain's two decades of engagement, the Afghan diaspora… [...]
Uzbekistan’s Disability Rights Reforms: Progress on Paper, Barriers in Practice
Uzbekistan has introduced significant disability rights reforms, but barriers to accessibility, employment and social protection remain. Oybek Isakov, Chairman of the Association of Disabled People of Uzbekistan, explains why legislation… [...]
‘I am a German from Kazakhstan’: Lena Wolf on deportation, memory and finding home
Lena Wolf, a German from Kazakhstan, reflects on her family’s deportation, Soviet-era Russification, migration to Germany and the search for identity across generations. [...]
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Janina Arsenjeva: “Finding a problem doesn’t mean reform has failed”
Disability rights are gaining ground across Central Asia, but progress remains uneven. Janina Arsenjeva discusses what is changing, who is still being left behind, and why finding problems can itself… [...]
Far from home, behind the wheel: A Kyrgyz truck driver on Europe’s roads
A truck driver from Kyrgyzstan describes life on Europe’s roads, from recruitment costs and salary deductions to sleeping in his cab, supporting his family and saving for a future back… [...]
Share Happiness, build an industry: Lola Animation’s Uzbek animation story
Producer Azimjon Rahimjonov speaks to Novastan about Lola Animation, the making of Share Happiness, the rapid growth of Uzbekistan’s animation sector and the ambition to bring Uzbek-created films to international… [...]
When reform reaches everyday life: Lessons from Uzbekistan and Mongolia
What makes reform work beyond laws and strategies? Former UNDP Resident Representative Matilda Dimovska reflects on public services in Uzbekistan, social inclusion and Mongolia’s green transition. [...]
Beyond the ‘Graveyard of Empires’: Rethinking the Afghan State
Support Novastan, the European Central Asia magazine By supporting Novastan, you are supporting the only English, French and German-language media specialising in Central Asia. We’re independent and we need your… [...]
Bruce Pannier: “Central Asians never viewed their region as Russia’s backyard”
From photocopied Central Asian newspapers in the 1990s to YouTube investigations and exile media today, Bruce Pannier traces how journalism in the region has changed - and why independent voices… [...]
Ivy League Orientalism: Staging Samarkand in Princeton, 1926
A century ago, Princeton’s Triangle Club staged Samarkand, a lavish comic opera that transformed the Central Asian city into an Orientalist fantasy of romance, luxury and exoticism. Diego Benning Wang… [...]