September 17, 2026
Bruce Pannier: “Central Asians never viewed their region as Russia’s backyard”
Bruce Pannier has watched Central Asia change for more than three decades – from the final years of the Soviet Union to a generation that no longer remembers it. In an interview with Novastan English Editor-in-Chief Mathieu Lemoine, the veteran journalist reflects on independent media, Russia’s changing role, generational shifts, overlooked communities and what outsiders still misunderstand about Central Asia.
In the summer of 1990, Bruce Pannier arrived at Tashkent State University. The Soviet Union still existed. Central Asia’s five future independent states did not.
Read the full interview at Novastan.
Bruce Pannier is a Senior Fellow at the Turan Research Center.