Professor Zhanibek Arynov

Graduate School of Public Policy

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Professor Zhanibek Arynov

Research Areas

Central Asian regional cooperation and geopolitics; regional organizations in Central Asia/Eurasia; EU-Central Asia relations; Kazakhstan’s foreign policy; international identity, image and perception studies

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

Position: Assistant Professor
Education Background: Ph.D. in International Relations, University of St Andrews (UK)

Zhanibek Arynov is an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy. He 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 projects related to regional organizations in Central Asia/Eurasia (EAEU, CSTO, and OTS).

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Arynov, Z., and T. Umirbekov (2025). “Contesting the unknown? Public perceptions of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan”. Contemporary Security Policy (online first). https://doi.org/10.1080/13523260.2025.2474868.
Arynov, Z., S. Orazgaliyev, L. Issova (2024). ‘Non-recognizing the Other? Discursive deligitimation of the EAEU by the EU’. Journal of Contemporary European Studies 32(2), pp.524-537.https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2023.2271849.
Arynov, Z. (2023). ‘Educated into Sinophilia? China as Perceived by Kazakhstani Graduates/Students of Chinese Universities’. Journal of Current Chinese Affairs 52(2), pp. 334–353. https://doi.org/10.1177/18681026221110245.
Arynov, Z. (2022). ‘‘“Nobody Goes to Another Monastery with Their Own Charter”. The EU’s Promotion of ‘European Values’ as Perceived in Central Asia’. Europe-Asia Studies 74(6), pp.1028-1050. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2022.2032604.
Arynov, Z. (2022). ‘Hardly Visible, Highly Admired? Youth Perceptions of the EU in Kazakhstan’. Journal of Eurasian Studies 13(1), pp. 42-55. https://doi.org/10.1177/18793665211058187.
Arynov, Z. (2022), ‘Opportunity and Threat Perceptions of the EU in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan’, Central Asian Survey 41(4), pp.734-751. https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2021.1917516.
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.

Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters

Arynov, Z., F. Bossuyt, K.Kluczewska (forthcoming). ‘A Benign Power with Contested Values: Perceptions of the EU in Central Asia’, in ed. L. Delcour Handbook on EU External Action and Policies. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Arynov, Z., D. Sharipova (2024). ‘Russia in Central Asia’, in. eds. J. Lempp, and S. Mayer Central Asia in a Multipolar World. Springer, pp. 269-286.
Arynov, Z. (2023). ‘‘Following Externals or Leading Internals? Kazakhstan as the Non-Follower with Leadership Ambitions of Its Own’, in eds. I.Busygina, and S. Krivokhizh Regional Leadership in Post-Soviet Eurasia: The Strategies of Russia, China, and the European Union. Routledge, pp. 102-123.
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, pp. 185-204.
Arynov, Z., D. Sharipova (2020), ‘Russland in Zentralasien’, in Lempp, J., Mayer, S., and Brand, A. (eds.), Die politischen Systeme Zentralasiens, Springer.

Other Publications:

Takenov, D., S. Ibadulla, and Z. Arynov (2025). “Back to the Future? - The Oscillating Path of the Russia-Kazakhstan Relationship”. Horizons – Journal of International Relations and Sustainable Development, Issue 29, pp. 170-179.
Arynov, Z. (2025). “The EAEU and Kazakhstan: When Government Enthusiasm Faces Growing Public Scepticism?”. ISPI (Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale).
Nuriddenova, A., Z. Arynov (2024). ‘Central Asian Regional Interactions in a Changing Geopolitical Context’. The Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs.
Arynov, Z. (2024). ‘Lots of Engagement, but Little Plan: How relations between the EU and Central Asia are changing amid new geopolitical realities’. Roza Luxemburg Stiftung..
Arynov, Z. (2022). ‘Is Kazakhstan’s multi-vector foreign policy threatened’, Horizons – Journal of International Relations and Sustainable Development, Issue 21, pp. 192-197.
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.
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).

RESEARCH GRANTS

Principal Investigator: ‘Legitimation and Delegitimation of International Organizations: The Case of the Eurasian Economic Union’. MSHE grant for young scholars 2022-2024. Grant # AP13068101.
Member of Research Team: ‘Social fragmentation, group polarization and misinformation in Kazakhstani social media’. MSHE grant for young scholars 2022-2024. Grant # AP13068148.
Member of Research Team: ‘The Organization of Turkic States (OTS) as a New Balancing Organization in the Era of Geopolitical Turbulence’. MSHE grant for young scholars 2024-2026. Grant # AP22786507.
Member of Team: ‘ValEUs – Research and Education Network on Contestations to EU Foreign Policy’. ERASMUS-JMO-2023-Networks, Project ID: 101127800.