Central Asia: Multi-Vector Policy for the 21st Century—Strategy and Development

Hybrid Event

Wednesday, March 6th, 2024 from 10:00am-2:00pm

Central Asia’s multi-vector approach to diplomacy has long been a cornerstone of its foreign policy, playing a prominent role in regional discussions. This strategic framework enables states to nurture relations with influential actors like Russia and China, while safeguarding their own sovereignty. Central Asian nations have effectively pursued strategic objectives, attracted Western capital, and managed to navigate complex geopolitical landscapes without succumbing to conflicts.

Initially applied within the realm of foreign policy and geopolitical relationships, multi-vector policy has evolved to encompass diverse contexts in the region. This inclusive approach now extends to areas such as economic growth, overcoming impediments like the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, formulating commodity development strategies linked to rare earth elements exports, exploring transit opportunities along the middle corridor, and more.

In this event, renowned experts, academics, and policymakers will delve into the vital issues surrounding multi-vector policy in Central Asia, with a specific focus on its economic and strategic implications. Join us for a comprehensive exploration of this critical aspect shaping the future trajectory of the region.

Event Overview

10:00am: Introductory Remarks from Sebastien Peyrouse

Sebastien Peyrouse is Director of the Central Asia Program and Research Professor, IERES, The George Washington University. His main areas of expertise are political systems in Central Asia, economic and social issues, Islam and religious minorities, and Central Asia’s geopolitical positioning toward China, India, and South Asia.

10:05 – 10:30am: Keynote Speaker: S. Frederick Starr

S. Frederick Starr joined the American Foreign Policy Council as Distinguished Fellow for Eurasia in January 2017. He serves as the founding chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute. He is also a Research Professor at Johns Hopkins University-SAIS in Washington and Head of Advisory Council at the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm. Starr has focused on the challenge of reopening continent-wide transport passing through Central Asia and Afghanistan, which he sees as a key to success in Afghanistan itself. This issue was the subject of a series of articles between 2000 and 2008 and of a book, The New Silk Roads, published in 2007. For writings that have had a direct impact on policy, see The Key to Success in Afghanistan [with A. Kuchins et al.] and Afghanistan Beyond the Fog of Nation Building: Giving Economic Strategy a Chance.

10:30am – 12:45pm: Panel 1: The New Geopolitics of Central Asia: Rebalancing China, Russia, and the West

Speakers

Ariel Cohen, LLB, PhD, is an internationally renowned expert on energy policy, Russia/Eurasia, Eastern and Central Europe, and the Middle East. He is a recognized authority on political and security risk management, economic development, investment policy, the rule of law, crime and corruption, market entry strategies, and other aspects of state/business relations. He is a Senior Fellow with the International Tax and Investment Center and Managing Director of the Energy, Growth and Security program. He also serves as a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council. He is a member of the prestigious Loisach Group at the George Marshall Center in Garmisch, Bavaria, Germany.

Dr. Kamran Bokhari is the Senior Director of the Eurasian Security and Prosperity portfolio at the New Lines Institute. He served as Director of the Analytical Development Department from 2019 to 2023. He is a national security and foreign policy specialist at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute. He has also served as the Central Asia Studies Course Coordinator at the US State Department’s Foreign Service Institute. He was a Fellow with the Program on Extremism at The George Washington University (2016–2018). He has also been a Senior Consultant with the World Bank since 2009. He has 15 years of experience in the private-sector intelligence space, during which he provided intellectual leadership in the publishing of cutting-edge geopolitical analysis and forecasts.

Ambassador Kairat Abusseitov is the Head of International Programs at the Nursultan Nazarbayev Foundation of Kazakhstan and an experienced diplomat. He has held positions including Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Through these roles, he has helped to develop Kazakhstan’s role in the global landscape.

Ambassador John E. Herbst is Senior Director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and served for 31 years as a foreign service officer in the US Department of State, retiring at the rank of career minister. He was US ambassador to Ukraine from 2003 to 2006, when he worked to enhance US-Ukrainian relations, help ensure the conduct of a fair Ukrainian presidential election, and prevent violence during the Orange Revolution. Prior to that, he was ambassador to Uzbekistan (2000–2003), where he played a critical role in the establishment of an American base to help conduct Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. He also promoted improved US-Uzbek relations, in part by encouraging the government in Tashkent to improve its human rights record. In his last four years at the State Department, he served as the coordinator for reconstruction and stabilization, leading the US government’s civilian capacity in societies in transition from conflict or civil strife, and to provide support to countries at risk of instability. He oversaw the establishment of the Civilian Response Corps of the United States, the US civilian rapid response force for reconstruction and stabilization operations overseas.

Moderator

Ambassador (retired) Allan Mustard capped 38 years of diplomatic service as US ambassador to Turkmenistan from January 2015 to June 2019. A fluent Russian-speaker, Ambassador Mustard spent roughly a third of his career as an American diplomat either in the former Soviet Union or in Washington dealing with that region. His other postings included Vienna, where he covered seven countries of Central Europe; Istanbul, where he covered Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon; Mexico City; and New Delhi, where he covered India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. He was chairman of the board of the OpenStreetMap Foundation from 2019 to 2021, and is currently on the board of directors of American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras.

12:45 – 2pm: Panel 2: New Economic Paradigms in Central Asia: Energy Transitions, Connectivity, and Beyond

Speakers

Wesley Alexander Hill, ABD, is the leading Research Associate and International Program Manager for the Energy, Growth, and Security Program at the International Tax and Investment Center. ITIC’s EGS arm focuses on critical natural resources, energy transformations, infrastructure, and geopolitics in Eurasia while exploring opportunities for investment and policymaking. He is an accomplished foreign policy professional and expert on energy policy, security studies, grand strategy, Chinese politics, Sino-American relations, Sino-African relations, and Sino-Eurasian relations. He serves as a contributor and has been published in Forbes, New Lines, Voice of America, and the Nomura Research Group.

Vladislav Inozemtsev, PhD, is a Russian economist. He is the Director of the Center for Post-Industrial Studies, which he founded in 1996. Between 2002 and 2012, he was editor-in-chief of the journal Svobodnaya Mysl, and editor of the Russian edition of Le Monde Diplomatique. From 2011 to 2014, he was a professor at Moscow State University (MGU) and the Higher College of Economics (HCE). From 2014 to 2018, he was a senior researcher at the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (Vienna), the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Johns Hopkins University SAIS (Washington, DC), and the Polski Instytut Studiów Zaawansowanych (Warsaw). He is the author of more than 20 books and 500 publications in academic journals.

Margarita Assenova is a Senior Fellow at The Jamestown Foundation. She is a regular contributor to the Jamestown publication Eurasia Daily Monitor on political and energy security developments in the Balkans and Central Asia. She is a recipient of the John Knight Professional Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University for her reporting on nationalism in the Balkans. She has authored book chapters and journal articles on security, energy, and democracy published by CSIS Press, Brassey’s, Freedom House, Bertelsmann Foundation Publishers, the University of New Haven, and The Jamestown Foundation.

Gulyamjon Pirimkulov is a career diplomat currently serving as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Uzbekistan. Since joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2004, he has held senior positions overseeing multilateral cooperation within the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and other organizations. He completed assignments at the Permanent Missions of Uzbekistan in Geneva (2007–2008) and New York (2012–2016 and 2020–2024). He is a graduate of Tashkent State University of Law (LLM) and Samarkand State University (LLB).

Moderator

Dr. Stephen J. Blank is a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s (FPRI) Eurasia Program. He has published over 900 articles and monographs on Soviet/Russian, US, Asian, and European military and foreign policy; testified frequently before Congress on Russia, China, and Central Asia; consulted for the Central Intelligence Agency, major think tanks, and foundations; chaired major international conferences in the US, Florence, Prague, and London; and been a commentator on foreign affairs in the media in the US and abroad. He has also advised major corporations on investing in Russia and is a consultant for the Gerson Lehrmann Group.

Join us virtually or in person in the Lindner Family Commons (Room 602) at the GW Elliott School of International Affairs