Redefining borders and peripheries in Central Asia & the Far East

The issue of borders has long been contested in Central Asia and the Far East with present-day consequences stretching from academic theorizations to military confrontations. These debates often fixate on the role of the state in drawing and fortifying boundaries with skewed historical arguments about glorified national pasts and anxieties about the future, often overlooking the complicated meaning and nuanced context in which borders are formulated. The outdated approaches, underpinned primarily by colonial and Eurocentric perspectives, have long limited directions in research, and necessitate rethinking and reformulation.