The Future of Central Asia’s Development: Between Russia and China

The Kennan Institute and the International Tax and Investment Center will host a conference to provide a platform for experts, academics, and policymakers to discuss the vital issues surrounding the impact of the war in Ukraine on Central Asia’s economic and geopolitical development. This event will consist of two panel discussions.

Keynote Speakers:

Ambassador Yerzhan Ashikbayev, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United States of America

Geoffrey R. Pyatt, Assistant Secretary for Energy Sources, United States Department of State

1. The first panel, Geopolitics: Crosswinds at the Crossroads of Eurasia (10:15am – 11:40am), will focus on exploring how Russia’s decline has invited geopolitical competition from China. 

Panelists:

Kamran Bokhari, Ph.D., Senior Director, Eurasian Security and Prosperity- New Lines Institute

Lisa Curtis, Senior Fellow and Director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program, Center for New American Security

Ambassador (Ret.) Richard E. Hoagland, Security and Politics Program Chair, Caspian Policy Center

Ambassador Kairat Abusseitov, Former First Deputy Foreign Minister and current Advisor to the Director of the Nursultan Nazarbayev Foundation of Kazakhstan



Moderator:

Wesley Alexander Hill, International Programs Manager & Lead Analyst, Energy, Growth and Security Program, International Tax and Investment Center

2. Panel two, Geoeconomics: Beyond Hydrocarbons and Dependency in the New Silk Road (11:50am – 1:10pm), will analyze how Russia’s strategic failures and economic isolation have simultaneously increased the threat to the Central Asian region and pushed states to seek new ways to reduce its overall dependency on Russia.

Panelists:

Jennifer Miel, Executive Director- Middle East & Turkey Affairs, & U.S.-Kazakhstan Business Council, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

S. Frederick Starr, Ph.D., Distinguished Fellow For Eurasia And Chairman Of The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute

Marsha McGraw Olive, Ph.D., Adjunct Lecturer of European and Eurasian Studies, The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Former Senior World Country Manager (1991-2014)

Eric Green, Former Special Assistant to the President & Senior Director for Russia and Central Asia, National Security Council



Moderator:

Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., Director, Energy, Growth and Security Program,  International Tax and Investment Center