Paper abstract:

Afghanistan accounted for over 80% of global opium production in 2020, and the drug economy is deemed to play an important role in the conflicts in Afghanistan. Yet not much is known about the relationship between opium cultivation and conflict intensity. In this paper we investigate the seasonal patterns of violence among Afghan insurgent groups and provide new explanations for the relationship between climate, opium cultivation, and conflict. Combining dataset of opium, rainfall, conflicts, and household surveys, we find that extreme climate increase opium production and conflict. Deviation from average of rainfall in planting seasons leads to reductions in traditional crops such as wheat and maize, and is associated with more violence in the subsequent year. To lower the risk, farmers switch to opium to reduce the potential loss from the climate shock, since the growth of poppy seeds are less vulnerable to extreme rainfall and temperature change. Our findings highlight the negative impact of climate change on conflicts in developing countries.

Paper abstract:

How do the independent and state media reinforce traditional practices in society in authoritarian contexts? What factors are at work that can explain practices like bride kidnapping, which may hinder women's future political participation? Using the Kazakh case, I explain the rise of `traditional practices' like bride abduction and possible motivations behind the practice. Bride abduction in Kazakhstan has increased in prevalence since the Soviet collapse, and the literature claims economic conditions are to blame. I reevaluate economic arguments using regression analysis, conduct a content analysis on state and independent media articles, as well as evaluate Russian media and social media. I argue that economic indicators alone cannot explain the motivations behind bride abductions. Future research should look at bride abduction in other settings to tease out generalizable non-economic motivations that may explain other forms of violence against women.

Paper abstract:

The Open Government reform has been actively adopted across a variety of non-democratic

regimes including post-soviet Central Asia. Though the reform is supposed to foster open

participation and collaboration through the active use of information-communication

technologies, several transition regimes in Central Asia have recently adopted and deepened the

reform to ensure its own durability and to promote political modernization. In this work we study

whether the open government reform contributes to the authoritarian upgrading or political

modernization. We investigate the concept of Listening State recently adopted in Kazakhstan

through the analysis of novel primary data. A survey assessing the perception of the Listening

State by ordinary citizens of Kazakhstan is analysed to reveal that the open government reform

in the country has not led to the realization of its key goals of enhancing participation of citizens.

Therefore, we conclude that the reform serves the goals of authoritarian upgrading through the

shallow liberalization by mechanisms of satisfying and containing the civil society through

“reactive state” and the function of government to respond to requests of citizens on social

media. The aspired goal of activism of state apparatus in social media and inherent allows the

regime to achieve manage political contestation and to promote economic efficiency.