Eurasian Idea as a Banner of Integration Paradigms in Central Asia: A Comparative Analysis

Seminários GI
Qui . 24 Abr . 14h30
Sala 2, ICS-ULisboa
Eurasian Idea as a Banner of Integration Paradigms in Central Asia: A Comparative Analysis

No dia 24 de abril, Andrei Prudnikow, Doutorando em Política Comparada no ICS-ULisboa, será o orador convidado do Seminário do Grupo de Investigação SPARC. O tema para esta sessão será Eurasian Idea as a Banner of Integration Paradigms in Central Asia: A Comparative Analysis. A partir das 14h30, na Sala 2 do ICS-ULisboa e online (ID: 975 6636 2593, pass 124396).

What role does the "Eurasian Idea" play in a region where multiple actors offer competing geopolitical visions? To determine how political elites in Russia, Kazakhstan, other Central Asian regional players, and Turkey use Eurasianism as a symbolic resource and strategic tool, this study focuses on the use of Eurasianism as a symbolic and strategic resource.

Using discourse theory, discursive institutionalism, and the performativity of political ideas, the study examines how Eurasianism functions not as a unified ideology but rather as a contested narrative field whose narratives are appropriated, framed, and manipulated based on national interests and geopolitical positions.  In contrast to Russia's imperial-geopolitical Eurasianism and Kazakhstan's pragmatic, sovereignty-preserving Eurasianism, Turkey maintains a pan-Turkic orientation and tactical alignment with other regional powers.
Using a comparative discourse analysis of public speeches, policy rhetoric, and institutional discourse, this study identifies how the Eurasian Idea is utilized to legitimize projects such as the Eurasian Economic Union, the Organization of Turkic States, and other regional balancing strategies. Eurasianism, in this reading, is less a coherent ideological doctrine than a contested symbolic framework in which regional actors compete to define integration's purpose and direction.