Please join the Fletcher Eurasia Club for a lunch seminar with Stepan Goncharov, an expert on political and economic behavior and Director of Respo, a Central Asian research company focused on developing new approaches for emerging markets in the region.

The rapid growth of Central Asia’s economies and its young but vocal populations are bringing new opportunities and challenges. After decades of exclusion from global politics, in the shadow of Russian influence, the countries of Central Asia are struggling to find their own identity and place in the world. The events of 2022 have triggered Central Asian nations and revealed new rifts within the societies, having accumulated for years due to media and cultural changes. Under the simultaneous and divergent activities of Russia, China, Turkey, and the Arab world, foreign policy and cultural orientations of Central Asian countries are becoming more complex and intertwined, and they remain understudied. Some of these new trajectories bring them closer to Western societies, but new barriers sometimes emerge.

Goncharov will provide an overview of public attitudes in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, including public sentiment toward key countries and media preferences. Two case studies will be discussed. The first is the coexistence of different cultural patterns in the region, drawing some characteristic sociodemographic portraits of society and outlining the most pro- and anti-Western social groups based on quantitative analysis and expert comments. The second is the perception of the Russia-Ukraine war in the region, its participants, and expectations for its end. More than half of the public in Central Asia follows the news about the ongoing war and feels affected by it despite being geographically separated from it.

We encourage you to read the following articles provided by Goncharov on the democratic transfer of power in the post-Soviet space and the economic transition of post-Soviet countries. The Eurasia Club weekly lunch seminar series engages with students, faculty, staff, and researchers to foster a better understanding of the region among members of the Fletcher community. Members of the wider Tufts community are also welcome to attend. Lunch will be served.

If you would like to attend via Zoom or submit discussion questions for the speaker in advance, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.

Stepan Goncharov founded Respo, a Central Asian research company, in 2023 and became its director. Respo specializes in providing research services and developing new research approaches for emerging markets in the region. Goncharov researches political and economic behavior, media consumption, and foreign policy attitudes of societies. Since 2013, he has worked as a researcher at the Levada Center, a respected Russian research NGO. Goncharov co-authored analytical reports on media consumption and consumer behavior published by the Levada Center and other institutions. Additionally, he authored numerous press releases on socioeconomic behavior on the Levada Center’s website. He also played a role in developing the Levada Center’s research capabilities, including online, mobile, and telephone surveys. Goncharov has over ten years of experience conducting research for commercial, nonprofit, educational, and governmental organizations, including the World Bank, WWF, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Change.org, and others. He also participated in a joint research project on bilateral relations between the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Levada Center. He received his M.A. in Political Science from Moscow State University (2009-2014).