On December 16, 2021, Kazakhstan will celebrate 30 years of independence. Back in the 1990s, the country voluntarily renounced the fourth-largest nuclear arsenal in the world and closed the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing site. Over the years, Kazakhstan’s partnership with the United States has created solid foundations for the development of trade and economic relations as well as for cooperation in the political and security spheres. The Central Asia Program (CAP) and the Embassy of Kazakhstan to the United States have invited speakers who have been personally involved in strengthening U.S.-Kazakhstan ties to share their memories of the not-so-distant past and to draw out lessons from their experiences for the next generation of diplomats, experts, and students.
Please join us for a discussion moderated by Ambassador John Herbst, Director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. Speakers include the Honorable Andrew “Andy” Weber, President Obama’s Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs; Ambassador Bolat Nurgaliyev, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United States between 1996 and 2000; and Ambassador John Ordway, U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan between 2004 and 2008.