Welcome to a conference hosted by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and the International Tax and Investment Center (ITIC) on regional integration and cooperation in Central Asia.
Despite growing geopolitical and economic pressure, regional integration in Central Asia shows encouraging signs. Growing trade, investment and connectivity, as well as high-level consultations and new agendas for regional cooperation, promise genuine progress that for decades had been prevented by political barriers, competing institutional frameworks and the absence of shared visions for regional integration.
However, challenges remain for the five Central Asian states. These include external geopolitical pressures; the decline of effective multilateralism; trends towards geo-economic fragmentation and competition for critical resources; and great power unilateralism. As these challenges converge with new economic and ecological trends across the region, they require updated frameworks of analysis and political action, for the middle powers and developing states of Central Asia alike.
In conversation with renowned experts, the event will explore the intersection of these issues to better understand the present and future direction of the Central Asian region, from both a local and global perspective.
Words of welcome
HE Tomas Danestad, Ambassador of Sweden to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
Speakers
Dr Nargis Kassenova, Director, Program on Central Asia, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University
Dr Wesley Alexander Hill, Assistant Director and Lead Analyst, Energy, Growth and Security Program, ITIC
HE Kairat Abusseitov, Deputy Director, Institute of World Economy and Politics, Kazakhstan
Aitolkyn Kourmanova, Specialist in economic policy in Central Asia
Prof. Sebastien Peyrouse, Director, Central Asia Program and Research Professor, Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University
Dr Ariel Cohen, Managing Director, Energy, Growth and Security Program, ITIC
Dr Asel Doolotkeldieva, Research Fellow, University of Potsdam
Moderators
Dr Jingdong Yuan, Director, SIPRI China and Asia Security Programme
Dr Jiayi Zhou, Researcher, SIPRI China and Asia Security Programme
Date: Thursday, 12 June, 09:30–12:30.
Location: Medelhavsmuseet (The Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities), Fredsgatan 2, 111 52 Stockholm