This full-day hybrid event addresses a range of issues, including the perceptions and impact of the war in Ukraine on Central Asia, the impact of the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan on the region, Central Asian countries’ domestic challenges, and how the US could be better engaged in the region.
This video includes:
– Welcoming remarks by Sebastien Peyrouse, Central Asia Program, GWU
– Keynote speech by Alexander Cooley, Harriman Institute, Columbia University: Eurasia Remade? The Regional Ripples of Russia’s War in Ukraine
Panel 1. The War in Ukraine: Perceptions from and Impact on Central Asia
Chair: Marlene Laruelle, Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, GWU
Speakers:
– Nargis Kassenova, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University (online)
Central Asian Perspectives on the War in Ukraine
– Paul Stronski, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (online)
The Impact of the War in Ukraine on Central Asian Economies and
Russian Investments in Central Asia
– Theresa Sabonis-Helf, Georgetown University (in person)
Central Asia, Energy, and the Ukraine War
Panel 2. The Taliban’s Afghanistan 2.0: What Impact on Central Asia?
Chair: Gavin Helf, United States Institute of Peace
Speakers:
– Naeem Poyesh, Independent scholar and former Director, Eurasia Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan (in person)
Assessing Relations between Central Asian States and the Taliban since the US Withdrawal
– Suzanne Levi-Sanchez, Harvard University’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies (online)
Securing the Border? Pamiri Civil Society and the New Taliban Government
– Kirill Nourzhanov, Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies, Australian National University (online)
“Disappointed”: The Central Asian States’ Transactional Security Engagement with the Taliban in Afghanistan
Panel 3. Central Asia’s Domestic Trajectories
Chair: Marintha Miles, George Mason University
Speakers:
– Temur Umarov, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The Uzbekistani Political Regime’s Stability after the Karakalpakstan Crisis
– Sean Roberts, International Development Studies Program, George Washington University
Kazakhstan: Looking Back at the January Riots and their Causes
– Asel Doolotkeldieva, independent scholar
Populism and Risks for Governance in Kyrgyzstan
– Mélanie Sadozaï, Central Asia Program, GWU/Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Paris)
Tajikistan: Threats on the Horizon?
– Sebastien Peyrouse, Central Asia Program, GWU
Turkmenistan: Increasingly Fragile Despite Its Economic Assets?
Panel 4. What Role for the US in Central Asia?
Chair: Sebastien Peyrouse, Central Asia Program, GWU
Speakers:
– Gavin Helf, United States Institute of Peace
New Opportunities for US Engagement in the New 2023 Context?
– Assel Tutumlu, Near East University
The Turkish Vector in Central Asia: Aspirations and Capacity
– Elizabeth Wishnick, Center for Naval Analyses and Montclair State University
China’s Approach to Central Asia since February 2022 and its Geopolitical Implications
– Marintha Miles, George Mason University
Russia’s Enduring Soft Power in Central Asia