Erica Marat, Analyst/Reporter, Voice of America, Russian Service; Research Fellow, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, Johns Hopkins University; Research Fellow, Institute for Security and Development Policy, Stockholm. Sponsors: CREES, WCED.
The military played a pivotal role in the political development, state functions, foreign policy, and daily lives of the people in the Central Asian states from the early twentieth century until the present. Dr. Erica Marat will examine the military’s hidden story, the different stages of its development from the early twentieth century until the present, and the influence it had on the state and society. Strategies used by the Red Army in recruiting Central Asian conscripts in the wake of formation of the Soviet Union, memories of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, as well as ways the military is used today in Central Asian states’ nationalist politics will be discussed.
Erica Marat is a social science expert on the military, national and regional defense, and state-crime nexus in Eurasia. Dr. Marat has produced a significant body of research published both in peer review journals and policy-oriented forums. She holds a B.A. in sociology from American University of Central Asia, an M.A. in political sociology from Central European University, and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Bremen. She is a regular contributor to Eurasia Daily Monitor and Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst. Dr. Marat recently authored a book titled The Military and the State in Central Asia: From Red Army to Independence (Routledge, 2009).
