No. 8 Cultural and other relations - Mapping Central Asia’s relations with other Asian states

Abstract

Cultural relations between Central Asian and the other Asian states (defined here as India, Japan, South Korea, Iran and Turkey) mostly transpire through classic and modern culture imports, shared historical narrative, and cooperation in education. South Korea, Iran and Turkey have particular his-torical links, established through diaspora and linguistic ties. There are few shared cultural touch-points to speak of, and there is a lack of comment on human rights or other values. Nevertheless, that has not prevented the identified powers investing in cultural relationships with the Central Asian states. The popularity and reach of the Asian countries’ cinematic industries into Cen-tral Asia is extensive. Countries have likewise sought to forge cultural ties by establishing cultural centres and funding educational institutions and scholarships. The presence of foreign media outlets in these Central Asian countries is significantly lower, leaving a more open space to non-Chinese or Russian sources of information and media. It is unclear to what extent this has an impact on political relationships. Overall, there are few close or intimate leadership links between the countries. Likewise, diaspora seem to do little in bringing significant value to bilateral relationships.