Zhanibek Arynov

Position: Assistant Professor

Education Background:

Ph.D. in International Relations, University of St Andrews (UK)

Research Areas

Central Asian geopolitics; Kazakhstan’s foreign policy; EU-Central Asia relations; international identity, image and perception studies; legitimacy and (de)legitimation of international organizations.

Research Output

Contact information

Zhanibek Arynov
Assistant Professor
Graduate School of Public Policy
Nazarbayev University
53 Kabanbay batyr Avenue
Astana, Kazakhstan 010000
Email: zhanibek.arynov@nu.edu.kz

Zhanibek Arynov is an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy. He first joined the School as a Postdoctoral Scholar in July 2019. Dr. Arynov obtained a Ph.D. degree in International Relations from the University of St. Andrews, UK. His research interests include Central Asian geopolitics, Kazakhstan’s foreign policy, EU-Central Asia relations, and international identity, image and perception studies. He is currently working on a project related to legitimacy and (de)legitimation of international organizations with a specific focus on the Eurasian Economic Union.  

Prior to joining the GSPP, Zhanibek Arynov served as a Senior Expert of the Program of Eurasian Studies, Institute of World Economics and Politics (IWEP), a think-tank based in Astana, Kazakhstan.

PUBLICATIONS:

Journal Articles

  1. Arynov, Z. (2022). ‘Educated into Sinophilia? China as Perceived by Kazakhstani Graduates/Students of Chinese Universities’, Journal of Current Chinese Affairs. https://doi.org/10.1177/18681026221110245
  2. Arynov, Z. (2022, forthcoming), ‘‘“Nobody Goes to Another Monastery with Their Own Charter”. The EU’s Promotion of ‘European Values’ as Perceived in Central Asia’, Europe-Asia Studies, doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2022.2032604.
  3. Arynov, Z. (2021), ‘Hardly Visible, Highly Admired? Youth Perceptions of the EU in Kazakhstan’, Journal of Eurasian Studies, https://doi.org/10.1177/18793665211058187.
  4. Arynov, Z. (2021), ‘Opportunity and Threat Perceptions of the EU in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan’, Central Asian Survey, doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2021.1917516
  5. Arynov, Z. (2018), ‘Changing Perceptions of the European Union in Central Asia’, L’Europe en Formation, Issue 385 , pp. 61-73, https://doi.org/10.3917/eufor.385.0061.

Book Chapters

  1. Arynov, Z. (forthcoming). ‘Following Externals or Leading Internals? Kazakhstan as the Non-Follower with Leadership Ambitions of Its Own’. 
  2. Arynov, Z. (2022), ‘Global Giant, Regional Dwarf? Perceptions of EU Actorness in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan’ in eds. D. Nascimento, P. Lopes, and L.Simao, The EU’s Global Actorness in a World of Contested Leadership: Policies, Instruments and Perceptions. Palgrave MacMillan. 
  3. Arynov, Z., Sharipova, D. (2020), ‘Russland in Zentralasien’, in Lempp, J., Mayer, S., and Brand, A. (eds.), Die politischen Systeme Zentralasiens, Springer VS.
  4. Arynov, Z. (forthcoming). ‘The EU and Kazakhstan after 2019: The Same Old Relationship’¸ Eurasiatica. 

Other Publications 

  1. Arynov, Z. (2022). ‘Is Kazakhstan’s multi-vector foreign policy threatened’, Horizons, Issue 21, pp. 192-197. 
  2. Arynov, Z. (2022). ‘Global and Regional Perspective’, in ed. Rico Isaacs A Critical Reader in Central Asian Studies: 40 Years of Central Asian Survey. Routledge.
  3. Arynov, Z. (2019). ‘Dem Untergang geweiht? Die Wahrnehmung der Europäischen Union in Zentralasien im Wandel’, Zentralasien-Analysen, Issue 217-218, pp. 9-12, issued by Centre for East European and International Studies (Berlin).