The most successful area of interaction and cooperation between the Republic of Tajikistan and the Russian Federation is education, where Russian educational services are advancing most dynamically. Cooperation in the scientific sphere appears weakest, writes Muzaffar Olimov.
We live in a time when, amid unprecedented global competition and struggle, the contours of a new world order are emerging from the ruins of the old world. Global players are creating new alliances and zones of influence, while old regions are disintegrating, giving rise to new configurations. We can now see the Middle East disintegrating, and with it, the old architecture of the global energy supply system. Critical instability in the Persian Gulf countries and the Middle East as a whole has blocked traditional transport routes, and called into question the future of several regions.
Under these circumstances, the importance of the Caspian-Black Sea region and Central Asia as a whole has sharply increased, potentially making it a key transit hub capable of operating in the face of global instability and sanctions pressure. It is increasingly clear that the five Central Asian republics: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, are emerging as key players in global trade and energy security amidst competition among the major powers. This makes the region an important partner for countries seeking to diversify their supply chains and access new markets. The viability of the Central Asian countries is, in turn, ensured by their unbreakable ties with surrounding regions, and above all, with their great neighbours, Russia and China. Under these circumstances, strengthening the ties and multilateral cooperation between the countries of Central Asia and Russia is becoming imperative.
Cooperation in Education
Scientific, educational, and cultural ties are crucial for building a common future. Cooperation between Russia and Tajikistan in education remains a key area of bilateral relations. It is regulated by a number of government and departmental agreements and covers all levels, from primary to higher education. Russia provides extensive and diverse assistance in supporting Russian-language education in Tajikistan, where Russian is considered the language of interethnic communication. Since Soviet times, Russian-language schools have continued to operate in the republic. Today, children study in Russian in 38 schools throughout Tajikistan. These schools are overcrowded, as there is a high demand in the republic for the study of Russia’s language, literature, and culture in general. In addition, there are five schools in the country built with Russian support in 2022. Instruction in them is conducted in Russian and follows Russian educational standards.
Tajikistan highly values Moscow’s ongoing efforts to provide schools and universities in the republic with Russian-language textbooks, educational materials, and fiction. The joint Russian-Tajik humanitarian project “Russian Teacher Abroad” has proven extremely successful. Currently, over 100 Russian teachers work in 27 schools in various cities and districts of the Republic of Tajikistan. Over the past six years, this project has become an integral part of the Tajik education system. In addition to their primary work, Russian teachers do a great deal to support the Russian language in the Republic of Tajikistan: they establish cooperation between schools in the Republic of Tajikistan and the Russian Federation, conduct seminars and workshops for local Russian specialists, and organise Days and Festivals of Russian Literature in schools and other educational institutions in the Republic of Tajikistan.
Cooperation in higher education largely preserves the traditions established during the Soviet era. Russian universities continue to assist Tajik universities in training faculty and train specialists for the Tajik economy in specialties lacking in the Republic of Tajikistan. To a large extent, cooperation in higher education is grounded in traditional ties between universities in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan, as well as the network of graduates of Russian universities who maintain contact with their home universities.
Overall, Russian higher education still maintains a monopoly position in Tajikistan. Its popularity can be judged by a survey of Tajik youth, according to which 42.2% of respondents would like to study at Russian educational institutions (Olimov, Sakhibov 2017). Tajiks study at Russian universities in Russia and at Russian universities and their branches in Tajikistan. The Russian-Tajik (Slavic) University, a branch of Lomonosov Moscow State University, a branch of NITU MISIS, and a branch of MPEI operate in Tajikistan. The fact that Russia is the main educational destination for students from Tajikistan is evidenced by the fact that out of 40,000 students from Tajikistan studying abroad, 30,000 are studying at Russian universities. This is an impressive trend considering that twenty years ago, in 2005, only 700 Tajik citizens were studying at Russian universities. Since 2000, the Russian Federation has annually allocated quotas for the education of Tajiks from the Russian budget. In 2025, the quota was 1,000 places. The problems and difficulties facing Tajik-Russian cooperation in education are linked to the general challenges of the educational sector, which is undergoing a transformation in both countries.
Scientific Cooperation
Scientific cooperation between Russia and Tajikistan continues the traditions established in the USSR and is developing both between individual universities and between academic institutes and laboratories. Despite the fact that the Higher Attestation Commission of the Republic of Tajikistan operates under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, active cooperation in the certification of highly qualified scientific personnel continues. Tajikistan remains under the jurisdiction of the Higher Attestation Commission of the Russian Federation, so many candidates and doctors of sciences prefer to confirm their qualifications with the Higher Attestation Commission under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. Tajik and Russian scientists meet at joint scientific conferences and symposia, which often launch joint or multilateral international scientific projects or present their results. The best-known scientific projects include the Pamir-Chacaltaya International Research Centre, the long-term work of joint archaeological expeditions throughout Tajikistan, joint astrophysical research at the Sanglokh Observatory, biodiversity research, and others. Among the most recent joint projects, notable are the publication of the legacy of Russian orientalists, carried out by the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Federation (IORAS RF) and the Institute of History of the Republic of Tajikistan, as well as the IORAS's long-standing programme of schools for young Central Asian researchers. The most recent school, which took place in late April of this year, was held by IORAS RF at Tajik National University. A separate area of scientific cooperation between the Republic of Tajikistan and the Russian Federation should be considered joint or multilateral international projects initiated by international organisations such as the IOM, ILO, ESCAP, and others. These projects bring together Tajik and Russian scientists in various fields of science, but, unfortunately, have little impact on the interaction between academic institutions and universities in both countries.
Overall, it must be acknowledged that, compared to the Soviet period, collaboration between Tajik and Russian scientists is weakening year after year. This can largely be explained by the passing of a generation of Soviet scientists in both countries who maintained close academic and personal ties. An attempt to compensate for the weakening of academic ties was the establishment of the Russian-Tajik Resource Centre for Scientific Research at the Russian-Tajik (Slavic) University. The resource centre is designed to assist Russian researchers in organising and conducting fieldwork in Tajikistan. Despite this and other useful initiatives, an erosion of the common scientific space between Tajikistan and Russia can be observed, as is happening in other Central Asian countries. This is particularly evident in the social sciences and humanities. Research projects bringing together Tajik and Russian scientists are extremely rare. Similarly, Tajik and Russian colleagues rarely cite each other. Joint and collective publications are very few. We see that despite the globalisation of modern knowledge, it is being fragmented into separate branches based on territoriality: the “regionalisation” and “nationalisation” of knowledge, fuelled by nationalism and the general strengthening of right-wing ideologies. As a result, researchers from different countries are losing touch with each other and, more dangerously, are losing an adequate understanding of reality as a whole. A major problem lies here: the search for an adequate research methodology. With the rejection of Marxism, Russian anthropologists, sociologists, political scientists, and cultural scholars studying Central Asia have returned to the paradigm of Orientalism. This is causing resistance or division among local scholars, who refuse to be objects of study and are seeking their own ways of studying their countries and the region as a whole. The development of new theoretical and methodological approaches, as well as the need for cooperation and dialogue between researchers from different countries, is becoming increasingly urgent.
Cultural Interaction
Cultural interaction between Tajikistan and Russia has developed in recent decades in a paradoxical and exceptionally interesting way. On the one hand, interstate treaties and agreements are being signed, both countries host cultural days, literary days, and film festivals, organise mutual tours of theatre and artistic groups and individual performers, and organise art and photography exhibitions. On the other hand, the large-scale labour migration of Tajik citizens to Russia has brought with it a powerful wave of traditional Tajik folk culture. Tajik pop hits are playing in Russian markets, plov is being cooked and flatbreads are being baked, and women dressed in clothing typical of various regions of Tajikistan stroll the streets of Russian cities and villages. In Tajikistan, this wave of cultural interaction with Russia has let to wider acceptance of some cultural patterns, generally greater tolerance for representatives of “other” peoples, and, at the same time, consolidation within the Farsi-Dari-Tajik cultural continuum.
Migrant art, while remaining a marginal phenomenon in Russia, is developing intriguingly. In recent years, the migration of Russian musicians, artists, and intellectuals to Tajikistan has increased, spurring the development of contemporary Russian-language culture in the Republic of Tajikistan. Concerts, lectures, master classes, discussion clubs, jam sessions, exhibitions, and performances in Russian have become an integral part of life in Dushanbe. Russia’s initiatives to promote the Russian language and culture are harmonising this cultural flow. For example, in April of this year, Dushanbe hosted a highly successful series of events as part of the Russian cultural project “Reading, Listening, Watching,” which included lectures, master classes, concerts, and an exhibition at universities and the Russian House in Dushanbe. All of these processes are rapidly developing and require in-depth study by scholars from both countries.
Conclusion
It should be acknowledged that the most successful area of interaction and cooperation between the Republic of Tajikistan and the Russian Federation is education, where Russian educational services are advancing most dynamically. Cooperation in the scientific sphere appears weakest. Therefore, it is necessary to:
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Restore a common scientific, linguistic, and cultural space, which will require not unification, but the equal development of distinctive cultures, their interaction, and mutual study.
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Accumulate fundamental knowledge and a comprehensive understanding of the geopolitical, economic, and sociocultural landscapes of Central Asia and Russia in their current state, as well as development directions and integration trends.
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Strengthen partnerships between academic institutions in Central Asian countries and Russia, including faculty exchanges, curriculum development, joint research projects, and relevant scientific events.
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Promote initiatives for the academic and expert support of political dialogue between our countries. In addition to discussing specific issues such as cooperation in logistics, investment, diversification, and addressing common and non-traditional security challenges, it is necessary to develop theoretical and methodological approaches to mutual study and discuss issues pertaining to culture, identity, and history.
