On 18 June, the Institute for Advanced International Studies, in collaboration with the Centre for Central Asian Studies at the Institute for China and Contemporary Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, successfully held an online conference entitled Central Asia in the Context of Global Turbulence: Opportunities, Challenges and Prospects, bringing together leading experts for a thorough analysis of the current challenges facing the region. The event was opened by IAIS Director Akram Umarov and Head of the CCAS Dmitry Novikov, who noted the importance of inter-institutional cooperation in developing recommendations for strengthening the region’s stability amid global geopolitical changes.
The discussion was moderated by Alexandra Perminova, Deputy Head and Research Fellow at the CCAS, who briefly presented the rules and order of speeches. The first speaker was Khayotjon Ibragimov, Head of the Centre for Energy Diplomacy and Geopolitics at IAIS, who presented a report on Russia’s role in the energy sector of Central Asia: the real situation, problems and prospects. He was followed by Nikita Illeritsky, a leading researcher at the CCAS, who spoke about problem areas and areas of opportunity for the development of the fuel and energy complex in Central Asian countries in the context of the Eurasian space.
This was followed by presentations by experts on Uzbek-Chinese and humanitarian relations. Abbos Bobokhonov, Head of the IAIS’s Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies, spoke in detail about the current situation of Chinese studies in Uzbekistan and the prospects for Uzbek-Chinese relations. Alexandra Perminova herself concluded the section on cultural and humanitarian issues with a presentation on trends in China’s humanitarian cooperation with Central Asian countries.
In the second half of the conference, the participants returned to foreign policy issues. Dmitry Novikov gave a presentation on US policy in Central Asia under the Trump administration, highlighting changes in strategic priorities and the choice of instruments of influence. After him, Fazliddin Djamalov, a leading researcher at the Centre for American Studies at IAIS, presented an analysis of US foreign policy in Central Asia, proposing specific vectors for further interaction with Washington.
At the end of the online session, participants noted the high level of the research presented and expressed their intention to continue joint work in the form of expert publications and thematic meetings.
