Elmira Satybaldieva is a Senior Research Fellow at the Conflict Analysis Research Centre, University of Kent. Her main research interest is in politics in the post-Soviet space, with a particular focus on grassroots activism and international development in Central Asia. She is currently researching Chinese, Russian and Western investment strategies in Central Asia and their varied implications for the region. She has been researching the region for over 15 years, and has published widely on social movements, development and political economy in the region. Her book with Balihar Sanghera, Rentier Capitalism and Its Discontents, is forthcoming with Palgrave Macmillan in 2021.