August 25, 2025 
4 min read 
On August 23, the National Academy of Sciences in Almaty hosted the launch of the Kazakh-language edition of Central Asia: A New History from the Imperial Conquests to the Present, a landmark work by Adeeb Khalid, Professor of Asian Studies and History at Carleton College.
The hall was filled to capacity, reflecting the depth of public interest in serious works of history and the growing appetite for projects that bring global scholarship into Kazakh.
In his opening remarks, Khalid reflected on the journey of the book: “I had originally written it for an English-speaking audience, hoping to introduce Central Asia to readers outside the region in an accessible but still sophisticated way. To see it now translated into Kazakh and sparking such interest here is a great honor.”
Khalid explained that one of his main goals was to challenge the clichés that often dominate outside views of the region.
“People either think of Central Asia as a mere borderland of the Russian or Chinese empires, or they imagine it as an exotic land of wonders. What I wanted to show is that Central Asia has experienced the same processes as other parts of the world: imperialism, colonialism, anti-colonialism, urbanization, environmental disasters. Nothing about its history is unusual or peripheral,” he said.
The Kazakh edition, published by Steppe & World Publishing, opens with the 18th-century conquests of the region by Russia and China, and follows the story through the Soviet century and into the independence era. Khalid emphasized that he wanted to write a regional history rather than a set of disconnected national stories.
“Central Asia was never a single political unit, but its societies were deeply interconnected. The book tries to tell that shared history rather than reduce it to five separate national narratives,” he said.
The launch featured a conversation between Khalid and historian and political scientist Zhar Zardykhan, the editor-in-chief of Qalam, a multimedia project dedicated to the history and culture of Central Asia. That discussion was followed by an intellectually rich Q&A moderated by Raisa Kader, founder and director of Steppe&World Publishing, which also played a vital role in making this translation project possible. This session ranged widely, touching on themes of decolonialism, the limits of historical research, and the implications of studying the past for our understanding of the world today.
For us at CAPS Unlock, as organizers of the event, the launch marks the third instalment in its ongoing effort to bring global ideas to Central Asia.
“Our choice of this title reflects our core mission: to support analytical work that strengthens regional ties and cooperation. We believe that meaningful collaboration begins with a deeper understanding of our shared past,” CAPS Unlock’s executive director Aida Aidarkulova said.
The initiative began in 2023 with the Kazakh and Russian editions of Francis Fukuyama’s Liberalism and Its Discontents, continued in 2024 with Peter Frankopan’s The Earth Transformed: An Untold History, and has now expanded to include Khalid’s Central Asia: A New History. Together with publishing partner Steppe & World, CAPS Unlock has established an exciting tradition of translating works of global significance into local languages, a tradition that will continue for many years to come.
The Almaty launch underlined both the appetite and the need for such works. As one participant noted, the region is undergoing a vital transformation in its public language and intellectual life.
You can also watch a video from the event on the CAPS Unlock YouTube channel.
