Togzhan Kassenova

😆 We need to come up with some other plan!

You should absolutely NOT be shy about advertising your book. Your scholarship is a service to the community. It is not like you are pedaling something for personal gain. Let's face it, we will not get rich off our academic books 😂

Congratulations, @wellerstein.bsky.social! This will be an incredible read, I am sure.

William Burr 1949-2025 Over the course of my half-century academic career, actually over the course of my lifetime, I never met anyone quite like Bill Burr. It’s a cliché to call him one of a kind, but in Bill’s case, it’s true. And that’s unfortunate. Not just the scholarly and public policy communities but also the world would be better off if there were more Bill Burrs. He was wicked smart; he was selfless and unassuming; his commitment to transparency and truth-seeking was boundless; his respect for evidence inspired us all; and above all he was a kind and generous human being. These attributes made Bill irreplaceable. His countless electronic briefing books accessible to all of us on the National Security Archive’s web site told the hidden story of America’s nuclear history. Once labeled “the Yoda of FOIA,” his publication of thousands of declassified documents was vital to our scholarship. So was Bill’s own scholarship. His Nixon’s Nuclear Specter was an instant classic, and his Kissinger Transcripts was a staple of my “Superpower America” course. And, of course, Bill was extremely active in SHAFR, serving on Council and Diplomatic History’s editorial board and, it seemed to me, attending every annual meeting no matter the location. One of my greatest honors was to join with David Painter to nominate Bill for the Anna Nelson Prize. The last time I saw him was when he stood up to accept it. His body was diminished, but not his mind or soul. Yet it was during my decade-plus tenure as HAC chair that I observed most unambiguously how one-of-a-kind Bill was....At almost every meeting he was the sole attendee who was not a member of the HAC or Office of the Historian. Drawing on his granular expertise, he held our feet to the fire, asking probing questions about the status of a FRUS volume or a State Department record group, always pushing for more rapid release. I wish I had archived our voluminous offline correspondence. Because of Bill Burr, I was a better HAC ch…

Oh my. News of Bill Burr's death is a gut punch to all who knew him & everyone who relies on declassified US national security records. Once called the Yoda of FOIA, he always had a sparkle in his eyes. All who care about government transparency will continue to benefit from his contributions.

“A House of Dynamite” Shows Why No Leader Should Have a Nuclear Trigger I’m a nuclear expert. The film’s illustration of powerlessness and choice was harrowing.

George Perkovich:
"A House of Dynamite shows us why everyone on earth must question the wisdom of granting a handful of leaders with nuclear buttons the power to kill everyone and every living thing on the planet—in less time than it takes to watch the film."
carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...

Generous Gift to the CUNY Graduate Center Endows New Biography Fellowship The family of Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Martin J. Sherwin establishes a fellowship for nuclear age biography at the Leon Levy Center for Biography.

A new fellowship for historians looking to profile key figures of the nuclear age, named for the remarkable nuclear historian Marty Sherwin:
www.gc.cuny.edu/news/generou...

A House of Dynamite - Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation How realistic is A House of Dynamite? Could it really happen? What's real and what's not? Our resources break it down.

Have you watched or planning to watch House of Dynamite?

Check out this handy guide from the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

armscontrolcenter.org/a-house-of-d...

Trump push to restart nuclear tests could take years, cost millions, experts say The Nevada Test Site — where the U.S. last tested a nuclear explosive more than 30 years ago — now relies on computer modeling, not physical explosions.

Gift link: wapo.st/4oMTRWN

Where Is Central Asia, Anyway? A former top U.S. diplomat reflects on the many ways ex-Soviet Central Asia can be viewed from Washington — Russian dependency, Chinese sphere of influence, new global hub with links in all directions...

Earlier this summer, former U.S. Ambassador Richard Boucher, passed away. He'll be remembered as an astute observer of Central Asia.
Back in 2021, Ambassador Boucher contributed a personal essay to the Davis Center/Eurasianet series. Pls give it a read: daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/insights/whe...

Thank you, dear @bojacobs.bsky.social!

Thank you as always for your support, @nuclearanthro.bsky.social!

Just in time for the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb is on sale for 50% off, at $16 from @stanfordpress.bsky.social

www.sup.org/books/politi...

Thank you, @andrewfacini.com!

How layoffs will affect the State Department and American diplomacy NPR's Steve Inskeep asks John Dinkelman, new president of the American Foreign Service Association, about how layoffs will affect the State Department and American diplomacy.

How layoffs will affect the State Department and American diplomacy

www.npr.org/2025/07/17/n...

July 10, 12:30 PM ET - In-person (at capacity) and online (registration is still open).

More details and registration: www.armscontrol.org/From_Trinity...

Draft agenda: www.armscontrol.org/sites/defaul...

Self-Dealing in the Trump Administration: A Conversation With Norm Eisen Join Aaron David Miller as he engages in conversation with Norm Eisen, founder of Democracy Defenders Action and a senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, on the next Carnegi...

Online tomorrow, Tuesday, June 10, 11 AM ET - Self-Dealing in the Trump Administration: A Conversation With Norm Eisen.

carnegieendowment.org/events/2025/...

Has the World Arrived in a New Nuclear Age? Russia is issuing threats of nuclear strikes, China and North Korea are growing their arsenals, and there are prospects for proliferation around the globe. Moreover, emerging technologies, including A...

If you're in the DC area, please join me at the @carnegieendowment.org on May 22 for an event launching my new book, 'THE NEW NUCLEAR AGE: AT THE PRECIPICE OF ARMAGEDDON' (with @coreyah.bsky.social, @atomicbell.bsky.social, and @davidehoffman.bsky.social): carnegieendowment.org/events/2025/...

Memoir: Recollecting the benefits of shoe leather diplomacy in Turkmenistan Getting out, getting a feel for the place, and putting pins on a map.

A new entry in the Ambassadors' Series on Central Asia, published by @eurasianet.bsky.social, spearheaded by @nargiskassenova.bsky.social of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.

Allan Mustard on the use of shoe leather diplomacy in Turkmenistan.

eurasianet.org/memoir-recol...

Apologies - only in person, but the recording should become available later.

Navigating Geopolitical Shifts: Central Asia’s Quest for Autonomy and Sustainable Development

Tomorrow, April 29, in person at GWU and online:
calendar.gwu.edu/event/naviga...

A Keynote Conversation With Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi YouTube video by Carnegie Endowment

A conversation with the IAEA's DG Rafael Grossi at #nukecon is now available online. I highly recommend it.

Iran, Zaporizhzhia NPP, peaceful nuclear energy, and much more...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKNQ...

Have you been to Bozjyra, Mangystau region in Western Kazakhstan? Part of the ancient ocean Tetis. It's simply mind blowing. Mad Max, Furiosa and Dune are crying ))
I strongly recommend visiting this Marsian place! 🤍🩶

Cory Booker breaks a 68-year-old Senate record with a 25-hour speech The New Jersey Democrat spent more than 25 hours criticizing the Trump administration's policies on immigration, education, the economy and more since 7 p.m. ET Monday. He ended his marathon speech sh...

"Sen. Cory Booker devoted all of Monday night and into Tuesday evening on the Senate floor, delivering an impassioned speech in protest of the Trump administration's policies. This effort [...] set a record for the longest speech on record given in the chamber."

www.npr.org/2025/04/01/n...

We Live Here - CPH:DOX On a desolate former nuclear test site, three generations confront the haunting legacy of the past as they fight for survival and hope in a world on the brink of destruction.

"On a desolate former nuclear test site, three generations confront the haunting legacy of the past as they fight for survival and hope in a world on the brink of destruction."

"We Live Here" by 🇰🇿 director Zhanana Kurmasheva is part of the CPH:DOX festival!

cphdox.dk/film/we-live...

H-Diplo | RJISSF Roundtable 16-29 on Budjeryn, Inheriting the Bomb 28 March 2025 | PDF: https://issforum.org/to/jrt16-29 | Website: rjissf.org | X: @HDiplo Editor: Diane Labrosse Commissioning Editor: Elisabeth Roehrlich Production Editor: Christopher Ball Pre…

H-Diplo roundtable of my book is finally out! Grateful to Anna-Mart van Wyck, Valeria Hesse, and Mark Kramer for their reviews, to Polina Sinovets and Iryna Maksymenko for the introduction, and to Elisabeth Roehrlich and Diane Labrosse for guiding the process through to completion.

In the Face of Oppression, Feminist Resistance in Kazakhstan Persists Kazakhstan’s feminist activists persist, despite formidable resistance from both the state and anti-feminist groups.

In the Face of Oppression, Feminist Resistance in Kazakhstan Persists
thediplomat.com/2025/03/in-t...

Woodrow Wilson Center 💔

Truth 🥹

Ooo, tämä olisi mainiota saada nähtäväksi myös Suomeen!

Hope to catch this film somewhere! "JARA — Radioactive Patriarchy: Women of Qazaqstan" is an independent documentary that unearths the tragic legacy of environmental destruction and human suffering caused by 40 years of Soviet nuclear testing on Qazaq land.