Article Dans Une Revue Bulletin of Al-Farabi Kazakh National Univesity Année : 2026

A western discussion of three post cold-war geopolitical concepts

Résumé

Addressing you, as a “westerner” on what I choose to call “western” concepts in a Central Asian country where, two years ago, students told me their identity was “European” whereas – to me – they were students in a country which I had always been made to think of as “Asian”. My point here is that perspectives change and the world is changing. And very fast at that. So the need for conferences such as this one, devoted to methodological and epistemological considerations, is immense. And I wish to thank the Faculty of International Relations of the National Kazakh University named after Al Farabi for its foresight and pioneering efforts. Perspectives begin with awareness of impressions. Impressions received but also, and perhaps more to the point, impressions given. Men Kazakhcha seuille lemeille men; Ya nie gavariou paruskii : this is creating a problem of positioning of my presentation, and indeed an epistemological problem. I promised Dekan Baisakova to speak on “western” concepts of geopolitics, to do so in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, and so I shall. Yet, what is the “West” ? Is “the” West unitary ? Do we still need to speak of Asia, Europe, Eurasia ? Or are we to speak of the greater East Asia and of the greater West (not “western !) Europe as they geopolitically meet already in central Asia ? I am not sure but what I do know is that immediately we speak of sub-regions of Eurasia, we use dated terms. What the Europeans used to call the Middle East is now West Asia, but West Asia is really becoming the extended Center-West Asia, etc. So, is speaking English a gesture, a posture, worthy of the accusations of arrogance ? And, indeed, arrogance is one of the three concepts I mean to look at ! … Would speaking French prove even worse an idea here in Almaty – and neither Kazakh, nor Russian, nor another of the Central Asian languages (which include, in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation-Asia, even Chinese) ? From a strict “theoretical” and “methodological” point of view, yes ! From a “practical” point of view, maybe not … In this spirit, I address three concepts – arrogance, multilateralism and a-territorialism.

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Dates et versions

hal-05602488 , version 1 (25-04-2026)

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  • HAL Id : hal-05602488 , version 1

Citer

Pierre Chabal. A western discussion of three post cold-war geopolitical concepts. Bulletin of Al-Farabi Kazakh National Univesity, 2026, 1 (1), pp.5-9. ⟨hal-05602488⟩
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