On September 20, 2021, Alexander Cooley, Barnard’s Claire Tow Professor of Political Science and Director of the Harriman Institute, published new research in the academic journal Central Asian Survey titled “On the brink and at the world’s edge: Western approaches to Central Asia’s international politics, 1991–2021.”
The article challenges traditional narratives from Western scholars surrounding post-Soviet Central Asia and interrogates the American military’s intervention in the region. Cooley examines how the United States’ occupation of Afghanistan has changed the study of international relations, and argues that within the academic discipline, scholarship surrounding Central Asia is missing a critical voice — that of Central Asian scholars.