A Chat in the Yurt - Episode XX: Succession and legitimacy

Step into our Yurt and join us for a monthly conversation on Europe-Central Asia developments. In these series of podcasts EUCAM welcomes guests from both regions to discuss exciting new research and the latest developments in Europe and Central Asia. Guests range from academics to policymakers and from journalists to civil society activists. What is happening in Europe that Central Asians should know about? What events are unfolding in Central Asia that Europeans should understand? Together, we discuss society trends, political developments, and economic turns while assessing the past and looking ahead to what may unfold.

In this episode, hosts Yelena Kilina and Kamila Smagulova meet with Sofya Du-Boulay, visiting fellow at the University of Sussex and senior lecturer at Alo-Too International University and Alesia Rudnik who is a PhD candidate in political science at Karlstad University and director of the Center for New Ideas. Together they discuss a recent ‘special issue’ on ‘political succession and legitimation in post-Soviet Eurasia’ that looks into the cases of Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Belarus. The guests assess parallels and differences between the cases of Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. The discussion ranges from the increased online presence of the regimes to their relationships with the European Union.