Abstract

This paper examines the everyday experiences of “digital sojourners” (remote-income foreigners without permanent residency) in Turkey and Georgia, focusing on Istanbul, Tbilisi, and Batumi amid the emergence of digital nomad mobility regimes. I argue that the figure of the sojourner is analytically useful for understanding temporary cross-border mobility that is not well captured by migration frameworks centered on settlement, integration, or long-term incorporation. Grounded in individuals’ mobility plans rather than legal categories alone, the concept of digital sojourn makes it possible to analyze how rights, obligations, and belonging are negotiated under conditions of temporality, relationality, and uncertainty. In doing so, the paper disentangles categories of analysis from bureaucratic and everyday practice and rethinks temporary mobility beyond the migrant-as-settler model.

Empirically, the paper draws on 30 semi-structured interviews combined with interactive mapping, conducted in person in September-October 2025, as well as participant observation in online contexts over the past year. It shows that Turkey and Georgia pursue different legal and regulatory strategies toward foreign mobile populations, yet these differences produce strikingly similar outcomes at the level of lived experience. In both cases, digital nomad regimes and adjacent transformations in mobility governance simultaneously generate privileges for a very specific type of foreigner: an ideal figure imagined mainly as politically and socially disconnected, digitally enabled, and primarily valuable as a consumer. At the same time, these regimes intensify the securitization of other forms of foreign presence and limit mobility and belonging opportunities for those who do not fit this model. Rather than simply facilitating mobility, these arrangements selectively distribute access, recognition and livability through a subscription-like logic.

By focusing on everyday emplacement, conviviality, and relations with local communities, the paper demonstrates how mobile foreigners navigate both inclusion and exclusion alongside, and sometimes against, state-assigned migration labels and classifications. It contributes to scholarship on migration, mobility, and belonging by showing how privileged temporary mobility regimes restructure inclusion through selective desirability rather than settlement, and how digital nomadism is sustained through unequal distinctions among foreigners themselves. More broadly, the paper shows that divergent legal strategies can converge in practice, producing similar hierarchies of mobility, belonging, and emplacement.

Abstract

Smooth and seamless connectivity between land-locked Central Asia and South Asia may foster growth and enhance development significantly, not only in these two regions but also in the wider Central Eurasian region. That is how it has been, historically, but not so during the seven decades of the Soviet Union. Several proposals have come up, initiatives unfolded and measures taken over yester years aimed at realizing this long-held inter-regional dream. Economic corridors, roads and bridges, ports and airports, transmission lines and pipelines have routinely been making the headlines. These moves, seen with increased intensity over past half a decade have been there off and on since the dissolution of USSR and emergence of five independent Central Asian states. However, practically, we see situation on the ground only marginally different today than it was, say, some two to three decades ago. Several issues -- unending instability in Afghanistan, inter-state conflicts and geo-strategic rivalries, major power competition, competing developmental strategies and approaches, as well as financial and technical constraints -- act as ostensible obstacles. This intended paper -- drawing from published sources as well as author's direct explorations in the form of field visits, surveys and interviews over past several; years -- seeks to take a comprehensive look at the rood travelled so far in this connection; shed light on the broader state of affairs today; flag the issues and problems that hamper the journey towards this goal, and more importantly come up with specific policy-relevant recommendations for countries, inter-governmental organizations, international financial institutions, businesses and other stakeholders.

Abstract

This paper examines how uncertainty is deployed as a deliberate tactic of governmentality within the emigration regimes of Kazakhstan and Türkiye. While conventional policy analysis often views legal ambiguity and administrative inconsistency as 'failures,' this study argues that both states strategically utilize uncertainty to manage 'desired' versus 'undesirable' overseas citizens. In both countries, emigration governance includes a wide range of policies, from setting conditions for exit to sending students abroad via state-sponsored programs, and from engaging with citizens abroad - for instance, through extraterritorial voting- to the facilitation of return and reintegration. These policies are constructed through domestic priorities, bilateral affairs and agreements, and international legal frameworks, all of which are shaped by geopolitical and security concerns, economic opportunities, and the international political climate.

The theoretical approach and empirical foundation of this research are drawn from the Emigrant Policy Regimes (EMIGPOL) Project. Launched in 2022, the project comprehensively examines the policies of 21 countries - selected from the top 25 globally with the highest number of emigrants according to UN DESA Population Statistics- to analyze how home states manage their citizens abroad, regulate mobility, and promote return. The project embraces a multi-tier approach, establishing a dialogue between national policies, bilateral agreements, and multilateral cooperation frameworks on one hand, and exit, emigrant engagement, and return policies on the other.

This paper demonstrates that both states navigate the tensions between national security and transnational identity politics, suggesting that uncertainty is not a lack of governance but a sophisticated instrument of power. By maintaining a landscape of unpredictable and/ or silent regulations, Kazakhstan and Türkiye exercise 'sovereign caprice' to filter 'desired' emigrants according to shifting political, economic, and demographic needs. Ultimately, this study contributes to Central Eurasian studies by highlighting how emigration governance serves as a site where state power is reasserted through the management of human mobility and the strategic manufacturing of desirability.

Abstract

Changing global developments serve as key incentives for states to reassess and redefine their bilateral relationships. This study examines the ongoing efforts of Pakistan and Kazakhstan to enhance their connectivity through various initiatives, including the construction of a railway line. Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country in the world, whereas Pakistan has a maritime outlet. Pakistan can facilitate Kazakhstan's access to ports on the Arabian Sea. As the second quarter of the 21st century begins, global and regional constraints have made it increasingly difficult for states to rely solely on traditional partners and trade routes. Consequently, states have been reassessing and redefining their bilateral relationships. Middle powers have recognized the necessity of reducing dependence on major power hubs to strengthen economic resilience. They have begun seeking alternative export corridors to diversify trade and stabilize their economies. Kazakhstan looks towards Pakistan to secure a more reliable southbound trade route. Pakistan serves as the primary maritime gateway to Kazakhstan, providing the shortest geographical access to the Arabian Sea. Kazakhstan aims to diversify its trade routes, moving away from traditional reliance on Russia and China. Conversely, Pakistan is also seeking to expand trade links beyond conventional Western and Gulf markets to bolster foreign exchange inflows amid a fragile economic recovery. The partnership between Pakistan and Kazakhstan would be mutually beneficial. Kazakhstan would gain access to ports on the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, while Pakistan would access European markets through the Middle Corridor via Central Asia.

The paper analyses the geopolitical and logistical challenges that increase the importance of north-south connectivity. These global changes raise the strategic value of north-south corridors. It justifies Pakistan’s inconsistent history of completing large-scale infrastructure projects on time, due to shifting geopolitical landscapes, financial constraints, and security concerns. Additionally, it argues that such delays are structural rather than unique to Pakistan and do not necessarily indicate failure; instead, they often reflect the inherent complexity of transnational infrastructure projects. The paper emphasizes that geographical factors often have a more significant impact on long-term infrastructure outcomes than temporary political delays.