The 6^th World Nomad Games (WNG) wrapped up in Kyrgyzstan on Sunday September 6, marking the end of a week that thrust one of Central Asia’s smallest and poorest republics into the international spotlight.

Since its founding in 2014, this “Olympics of the Steppe” has served as more than simply a cultural showcase for ethnic sports and traditions. As Kyrgyzstan pushes to assert identity and agency in a newly relevant Central Asia, the 2026 Games signalled an effort to reinvent nomadic heritage as modern national identity, international brand and diplomatic tool.

A soft power kick-off

The tournament’s lavish opening ceremony in the brand-new Bishkek Arena – now the region’s biggest stadium – was timed to coincide with the 35^th anniversary of ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan’s independence and a major Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, which drew over 20 international leaders to the Central Asian capital.

Three thousand athletes from over 100 countries, thousands of dancers, scores of Kyrgyz popstars and 300 horses came together on stage in an ambitious seven-hour pageant, as the heads of state including Russia’s Putin, India’s Modi, Iran’s Pezeshkian and Turkey’s Erdogan looked on from the VIP box (China’s Xi pulled out as he was dealing with the response to the Tibet-Nepal flood disaster).

The presidential handshakes were broadcast live to 30,000 spectators, prior to a speech from the Kyrgyz Republic's leader Sadyr Japarov, who hailed “international friendship and partnership”.

The event doubled as a diplomatic performance, and not by accident. Kyrgyzstan’s projected message was clear: we are stable; we are capable; we are relevant.

A spectacle of stability

Political scientist Arzuu Sheranova argues that the Nomad Games are an “invented tradition” that harnesses cultural heritage to achieve political objectives. She points to the context in which the Games were first proposed in 2012, under then-Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev, who sought to create an image of stability following a period of domestic political upheaval.

This strategy of rebranding, Sheranova told IntelliNews, dates back to the early years of post-Soviet independence, when the Central Asian leaders in particular placed strong emphasis on the “rebirth of the nation” and “celebrating the past” within the nation-building effort.

Amid the identity vacuum and state-building challenges of the early 90s, “investment into cultural events was crucial”, with regimes relying on “cultural performance” as a means of bridging ethnic divisions and leveraging political support, Sheranova reflected.

Projecting strength at home

According to Sheranova, the return of the World Nomad Games to Kyrgyzstan in 2026, after editions in Turkey and Kazakhstan, was equally symbolic.

With presidential elections approaching in January 2027, the convergence of the Games’ opening ceremony, the SCO summit and Kyrgyzstan’s Independence Day offered Japarov a highly visible opportunity to project stability, competence and international stature.

It was also his first major test since the abrupt dismissal in February of former Kyrgyz national security chief and de facto co-ruler Kamchybek Tashiyev, a move that sent shockwaves through the country’s political establishment.

Pulling off a programme on such a diplomatic and logistical scale handed Japarov’s administration the means to defuse tensions at home while reinforcing the president’s standing as the country’s dominant political figure.

The presence of so many international heads of state in Bishkek, alongside boosting feelings of national pride, “created an image of Japarov as a strong leader…who is acknowledged by other countries, like Russia and China”, Sheranova observed. Such “domestic legitimacy” is “crucial” and would likely contribute to the re-election of Japarov next year, the analyst said.

Global visibility

In a rapidly changing global order in which Central Asia is transitioning from peripheral region to geostrategic hub, the Games also served to project an image of Kyrgyzstan beyond its borders, one of an ambitious and politically stable power open to foreign investment.

And with major results, argued Sheranova, who views the mountainous country’s ongoing popularisation – driven largely by the “Instagramification” of its landscapes” – and lucrative tourism boom, as well as its election this summer as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council – as “not just a coincidence”, but an “outcome” of the World Nomad Games.

Bishkek appears well aware of this process, noted Sheranova, adding that, within the current “turbulent, unstable world order”, Kyrgyzstan will likely continue to leverage its status as the “founding father” of the Games to advance its political interests and raise its profile abroad.

New nomadism

The key to this strategy lies in the reinvention of the narrative of nomadism itself.

At home, what was once considered a backward way of life by the Soviets is now a major source of national pride shaping independent Kyrgyzstan. The country’s nomadic roots are on display everywhere, fused to modern mediums such as ethno-fashion and contemporary dance.

This “new nomadism” is both defining Kyrgyzstan’s national ethos and recasting nomadic values of inclusion, tolerance and diversity as principles guiding its engagement with the international community.

By uniting major global powers around ancient steppe sports, Kyrgyzstan is not merely reviving tradition but actively mobilising nomadic legacy as a resource for contemporary diplomacy and cross-border friendships.

The Games put this philosophy into action, bringing together participants from across the world while leaving little room for political divisions. Russia went head-to-head with the United States in a game of dead goat polo , while Team GB’s tug-of-war team strained on the rope against both Russia and Iran. The Ukrainian delegation, comprised this year of just two individuals, paraded across the stage at the opening ceremony, as Vladimir Putin and over 100 Russian athletes looked on.

Kyrgyzstan, then, is not simply preserving its past, it is strategically repackaging it to shape its own international brand going forward, in what Sheranova describes as a “harmonious coexistence of old nomadism and modernity”.

Though the term “invented tradition” might suggest otherwise, there is surely no fabrication here, only tactics. The World Nomad Games is the ultimate soft power tool, and the Kyrgyz sure knew how to use it.