Galina Gorborukova, PhD, is an associate professor and coordinator in the Sociology Department. She joined AUCA in 2000 and began her work as part-time teacher of sociology. Now, Gorborukova works full-time. She took a moment to talk about her career at AUCA.

Course Description
The course is designed to introduce students to main policy processes and issues, and familiarize them with basic policy analysis instruments. The course is divided into three parts – conceptual, contextual and instrumental parts of policy and policy analysis. Reading assigned literature and discussing them in the class would constitute the major part of the course, writing and presenting papers – another part. One of each week’s class would be conducted in the form of lecture with discussions of presented materials, while the second day (seminar) would be devoted to discussing the assigned materials and exploring discussed concepts through the lenses of specific policy cases. Although instructors would bring these cases to the class students are expected to come prepared with their own practical examples. Students have to get acquainted with required readings, and those wishing to deepen their understanding of the subject may familiarize themselves with suggested readings (available either at AUCA library) in the syllabus.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Why do international organizations exist?  What role do they play in solving global problems? Traditional international relations theories characterize the international system as anarchic and focus on interactions between nation-states. Since WWII, international organizations have become more prominent players in the international system. Debate continues in academic and policy communities over why international organizations exist, whether they matter in global politics, and when they can help alleviate global problems. Both in their practical and theoretical aspects, international organizations (IOs) are a dynamic and increasingly important element in the functioning of modern world politics.
                                                    

Course Description
Kyrgyzstan is an interesting example of a relatively weak state, which for its brief period of independence has already ousted two presidents, experienced two revolutions, survived two interethnic conflicts and yet remained intact. This book explores this apparent paradox and argues that the schism between domestic and international dimensions of state and regime security is key to understanding the nature of Kyrgyz politics. The book shows how the foreign policy links to the Manas Air Base, used by the US military and essential for supplying their forces in Afghanistan, the economic arrangements necessary for sustaining the base, both inside and outside Kyrgyzstan, and the myriad of different actors involved in all this, combined to overshadow points of friction to ensure stable continuance of the status quo. Overall, the book shows how broad geopolitical forces and complex local factors together have a huge impact on the formation of Kyrgyz foreign policy.

Course Description
The Department of International and Comparative Politics considers internships as an important opportunity for students to apply their theoretical knowledge in practical setting, acquire additional knowledge and skills relevant to the field of ICP. ICP department grants academic credits for a completed internship given all relevant requirements listed below are properly met. 

COURSE CONTENT
The subject matter of International Relations includes some of the most pressing problems of humanlife – first and foremost the question whether war and conflict really are an inevitable part of thehuman condition, or whether and how stable peace can be found. Other important questions includewhether we are all part of a common humanity or whether cultural differences keep us apart. In fact,IR deals with these big questions and many more besides, from traditional diplomacy to globalization,from international economic relations to the question of humanitarian intervention. In thisintroduction to International Relations (IR) students will acquire an understanding of internationalrelations and how they are reflected in the discipline of IR. The course introduce the main theoreticalapproaches – while this is not a theory course, IR is a very theoretical discipline and a goodunderstanding of what is being discussed in other parts of the course depends on a basic grasp of thesetheoretical schools and the very different views of the world they represent.

COURSE CONTENT
Foreign Policy Analysis investigates the processes involved in foreign policy decisionmaking.It requires an understanding of the contexts, pressures and constraints withwhich foreign policy-makers have to deal and the ability to engage in comparativeanalysis without losing a sense of historical context. The course is largely theoretical.Individual cases will be touched mainly for discussion purposes, but the major themessuch as foreign policy decision-making process, influences on foreign policy, types offoreign policy actors etc. are approached from conceptual aspect.

Course Description
This course is designed to provide an introduction to the study of politics. It focuses on the political systems and governmental institutions which are functional in the contemporary world. Through lectures, discussions, readings and various assignments students are expected to get familiarized with the following concepts: power and its dimensions; the state, its role and functions; constitutions and legal systems; political ideologies and political culture; political parties and other political institutions.

Open poster and pictures competition dedicated to the 85th anniversary of psychologist, philosopher, writer - Aaron Abramovich Brudny (1932-2011).

Abdisatarov Bekzod is a 2016 alumnus of the American University of Central Asia’s (AUCA) Economics department. Bekzod told us about his experience in the Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LSCM) Program.