In Progress – Coming in Summer 2027!

A field-based study of how states build and navigate regional systems

Central Asia is rapidly emerging as a connected regional space, shaped by new energy networks, transport corridors, and growing coordination across the region. Landlocked and yet strategically positioned between Russia, China, the Middle East, and South Asia, it has long been defined by movement across space. Today, these patterns are taking new form as infrastructure, trade, and regional initiatives reshape how Central Asian states engage with the wider world.

You will examine these developments across Central Asia, exploring how infrastructure, energy systems, and political decision-making interact in practice. You will travel to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, where through lectures and site visits, you will engage directly with institutions and environments shaping contemporary regional strategy.

As you move across borders, you will compare how states pursue cooperation, manage shared challenges, and position themselves within broader global systems. You will build a grounded understanding of Central Asia as an emerging regional space.

What You Study

Regional Strategy and Coordination

You will examine how Central Asian states engage not only with major powers, but increasingly with each other—developing frameworks for cooperation in expanding trade, demarcating borders, developing infrastructure, and establishing regional security.

Energy, Resources, and Infrastructure

You will explore how oil, gas, hydropower, and water sharing agreements shape regional economies and connectivity, including pipeline systems, transit corridors, and the role that major Caspian natural gas reserves do and could play in the global economy.

Political Systems and State Development

You will analyze how governance, reform, and state capacity are rapidly evolving across the region. Most of the Central Asian states have experienced significant leadership shifts in the last decade, altering previous trajectories and resulting in the region's current power dynamic.

Regional Connectivity

You will examine how geography, trade routes, and infrastructure link Central Asia internally and to global markets, shaping both opportunity and constraint.

Field-Based Comparative Analysis

You will build a comparative framework through direct observation and structured reflection across multiple national contexts, assessing how regional policies play out in practice.

Who This Program Is For

This program is designed for students of international relations, political science, and related fields who are interested in diplomacy, global strategy, and the role of emerging regions in international systems. It is particularly well suited for those seeking to understand how states operate between major powers, and how energy, infrastructure, and geography shape policy decisions in practice.

No prior knowledge of Central Asia or Russian language study is required. The program is ideal for students looking to engage with a strategically important region through field-based, comparative analysis across multiple national contexts.

Program Details

Central Asia: Connectivity, Energy, and Regional Strategy

This course examines how Central Asian states are developing regional connectivity while navigating external pressures and internal priorities. Through a comparative, multi-country format, you will analyze energy systems, infrastructure, and policy environments across Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, using field observations, guest lectures, and structured reflection to build an applied understanding of the region. 3 credits

Contact us for course syllabi.

Partner School

The London School of Languages and Cultures is a well-established private language school founded in 1998. The school has worked with the UNDP, the US Embassy, and various USAID projects. On campus, foreigners studying Russian and Central Asian languages mix with locals learning English. Centrally located, the school is surrounded by cafes, museums, shopping, theatres, churches, mosques, and more.

Transcripts and Credit Transfer

The School of Record for this program is University of Montana (Missoula, MT USA). A US School of Record means that your program is supported by and documented by an accredited US university, making credit transfer relatively routine.

For more on transcripts, credit transfer, and other academic issues, click here.

Contact us for course syllabi and more information about what appears on your transcript.

This program is structured as a multi-country field study, allowing you to examine Central Asia not as a single case, but as a set of interconnected systems operating within a shared regional space.

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Begin and conclude the program in Bishkek, where you will be introduced to the region’s political landscape and regional organizations. As a smaller state navigating shifting internal and external dynamics, Kyrgyzstan provides a useful starting point for understanding how governance and strategy evolve across the region.

Almaty, Kazakhstan

In Kazakhstan’s economic center, you will explore regional connectivity in practice, with a focus on energy systems, foreign investment, and the country’s positioning within major transport and trade networks linking Central Asia to global markets.

Tashkent and Samarkand (or Bukhara), Uzbekistan

In Uzbekistan, you will examine state-led development, regional integration, and the role of infrastructure and historical centers in shaping both national identity and international engagement.

Throughout the program, site visits, guest lectures, and guided discussions are integrated with travel. As you move between countries, you will compare how each system operates within the region—building a grounded understanding of Central Asia as an emerging regional system shaped by both shared dynamics and national approaches.

Dormitory:The newly renovated dorm is conveniently located next to the building where you will have classes and features a kitchen, food storage space, and a common area for socializing.

Central Asia is defined by both its position and its scale. Landlocked and expansive, the region sits between Russia, China, the Middle East, and South Asia, making it a longstanding zone of connection as well as separation. From the Silk Roads to modern transport and energy corridors, movement across this space has shaped how the region engages with the wider world—and increasingly, how its states engage with one another.

The states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan share historical legacies of Russian and Soviet rule, yet have developed along different paths since independence. These differences are visible not only in political and economic systems, but also in how cities function, how public space is organized, and how each country presents itself regionally and internationally. At the same time, countries such as Turkmenistan—an important energy exporter—and Tajikistan, where border tensions and security concerns remain relevant, play key roles in shaping the broader regional landscape.

Across the region, urban centers such as Almaty, Bishkek, and Tashkent anchor contemporary life, while steppe landscapes, mountains, and rural communities reflect the geographic scale that continues to influence patterns of movement and connection. Together, these elements provide a grounded sense of Central Asia as a region shaped by both shared history and emerging forms of regional coordination.

Find out more about:

Kyrgyzstan:

Uzbekistan:

Other Central Asia:

Budget Breakdown

Scholarships and Grants

  • Federal aid can help pay for your program if your university pre-approves credit transfer and agrees to manage payment. Check with SRAS and your university for details.
  • All Scholarships and Grants that we know of that can be applied to our programs are listed on our site.  Contact SRAS for assistance in building your strogest application!
  • SRAS Program Grants are stackable! 
  • SRAS Ambassadors can write while abroad or educate students at home after their return – and earn stipends!
  • SRAS Online Research Internships award partial scholarships for study abroad.
  • Boren Awards: This program is compatible with Boren requirements. Contact us about how to build your strongest application for Boren funding!

  1. Complete our application (press the “Apply Now” button to create your SRAS account — you will be able to return to the application later).
  2. Alert your home university (if you are currently a student).
    Some universities have deadlines for study abroad that are much earlier than SRAS deadlines -— so involve your home university’s study abroad office in the process as early as possible! They can help ensure that all goes smoothly with credit transfer and financial aid, and perhaps point you to additional funding sources.
  3. See our Planning Guide for more important information about academics, health and safety, and more.

If you are still unsure this is the right program for you, please join an SRAS Info Session or schedule an SRAS advising session to discuss how we can help fulfill your goals and needs!