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Abstract

Migration from Central Asian countries to Russia is most often considered as temporary and for the purpose of employment. But many migrants eventually decide to move to a permanent place of residence and subsequently become Russian citizens. Based on the analysis of official administrative statistics, we would like to present some of the results of a study that shows which channels of immigration and naturalization are used by migrants from different countries – with a focus on citizens of Central Asian states – to obtain residence permits and Russian citizenship. The study allowed to propose an approach how to aggregate detailed statistics on the issuance of residence permits and the acquisition of citizenship (broken down by numerous individual provisions of the laws On the status of foreigners in Russia and On the citizenship of the Russian Federation) into enlarged classes of admission to permanent residency and naturalization. It also made it possible to show what percentage of migrants come for family reunification through the channel of ethno cultural migration - as compatriots and native speakers of the Russian language, or as carriers of in demand professions and competencies, etc. The pilot study demonstrated significant differences in the composition of immigrants arriving from different countries by the major classes of admission and also to better understand the peculiarities of Russia's migration policy.

The research is supported by the Russian Science Foundation.

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This research demonstrates a qualitative and quantitative study of human trafficking dynamics in Kazakhstan by analyzing a diverse range of open sources such as legal acts, international institutions’ reports, and academic literature. The case is examined by employing a quantitative method of analysis, which underpins the critical influence and importance of a robust public administration system, active engagement of the international sector, and the innovative methodology in fighting human trafficking. The study attracted 100 respondents and does not aim to deliver policy lessons or evaluate the operational capacity of public administration systems. Instead, it focuses on assessing knowledge, understanding, and awareness of human trafficking and the perceived role of public administration among emerging scholars and future practitioners. The general findings of the research show that a major part of survey participants see public administration as a main component in countering human trafficking in Kazakhstan and expressed certain skepticism towards international institutions and technology use in anti-trafficking interventions. This paper advocates drawing the attention of all interested parties to this issue from a public administration perspective, which would eventually impact a more efficient combat against this phenomenon of human trafficking.

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In Kazakhstan over couple decades the government put massive efforts to save saiga antelope from extinction. This work paid off, today millions of saiga roam western and central parts of Kazakh steppe. Alas, this conservation success brought a human-wildlife conflict (HWC), as growing saiga population damaged pastures and crops to farmers’ disappointment. While some humans wanted to protect wildlife, and others tried to protect themselves from negative consequences of wildlife proliferation, the saiga policy agenda in Kazakhstan became a field of struggle between various stakeholder attempting to influence public policy. In the last decade Kazakhstan’s saiga protection and management policies experienced several swings from strengthening protection in response to focusing events (like mass die-offs in 2015 or killing of protection inspectors in 2019) to proposals to regulate population by hunting, which prevailed in 2023 and again in 2025.

How could conservation success turn into a challenge for the government? Why do some conservation policies become politically contested after their success, and how does policy change happen in a centralized political system? This study explores the agenda-setting dynamics and coalition strategies surrounding saiga antelope management in Kazakhstan, as strict protection led to rapid population recovery but intensified conflict with agricultural land use. The central puzzle motivating this study is how and why saiga issues advanced to the policy agenda and what were the forces that influenced the change in saiga policy in a semi-authoritarian governance context. In this research we apply Advocacy Coalitions Framework (ACF) that suggests competition of coalitions for agenda access and policy venues to achieve their policy goals.

Drawing on qualitative analysis of more than 700 news media items published over 2018-2025 supplemented by policy documents and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, the study reconstructs the timeline of saiga policy debate using process tracing and media based qualitative coding. The findings showed that policy change on saiga was shaped by interaction of three advocacy coalitions – conservationist, agricultural and hunting. Conservation coalition with long history roots in Kazakhstan’s conservation grounded in scientific authority and international norms was challenged by agricultural coalition which emphasized economic losses and justice. Hunting coalition entered saiga policy system late to advocate for sustainable use. Agenda setting depended heavily on focusing events and presidential signaling, while the government actors responded cautiously operating within hierarchical authority structures and stakeholder pressures.