Tashkent, Uzbekistan – 29 August 2024. On August 27, 2024, a significant meeting occurred at the esteemed Carter Center in Atlanta, USA, between the Head of the Asia-Pacific Studies Center at the Institute for Advanced International Studies (IAIS), and the current U.S. Fulbright Visiting Scholar, Abbos Bobokhonov, alongside the Carter Center’s Senior Advisor on China, Yawei Liu, and Senior Program Associate, Nick Zeller.

For reference: The Carter Center, a distinguished non-governmental organization, was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and formally established in 1986. The Center's mission encompasses the promotion of human rights, conflict resolution, election monitoring, public health, and the eradication of preventable diseases.

Yawei Liu, a preeminent authority on U.S.-China relations, has been an integral part of the Carter Center for over 25 years. He also holds memberships in the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and serves as Associate Director of the China Research Center in Atlanta.

Nick Zeller, an expert on China's international relations, is the editor of the Carter Center’s English-language U.S.-China Perception Monitor website. His previous academic roles include Visiting Assistant Professor at Kennesaw State University and the University of South Carolina, as well as a Fellowship at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Zeller earned his doctorate in modern Chinese history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

During the meeting, IAIS and Carter Center experts engaged in discussions regarding potential areas of collaboration. The American counterparts shared insights on global dynamics, with a particular emphasis on U.S. foreign policy and strategic directions. Of notable interest was the American specialists’ expressed enthusiasm for Central Asian studies, identifying the region as a growing focal point in U.S. foreign policy. This area of interest was underscored as a current research priority at the Carter Center.

In light of this, the Carter Center conveyed its intention to establish academic collaborations with institutions in Central Asia. Specifically, they proposed the formation of scholarly partnerships with the IAIS, including joint academic research, the exchange of scholarly presentations, and the organization of conferences on mutually relevant academic topics in Uzbekistan and the United States.