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Central Asia and South Caucasus Programme

Programme Details

The IISS Russia and Eurasia programme conducts a broad range of activities and research projects on political and security issues in the Caucasus and Central Asia. Throughout 2001 the IISS was working with OSCE and the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development on developing a strategy for international donors for managing the consequences of the Russian military base closure in Akhalakali, Georgia. During April 2001, the IISS together with the Paris-based Institut de Relations Internationales et Strategiques organised a conference in Tbilisi on Crisis Management Strategies for Georgia. 

In 2002 the IISS turned its attention to Central Asia following the war in Afghanistan.   All five Central Asian states of the former Soviet Union played an important role in support of  the US-led coalition in operation “Enduring Freedom” in Afghanistan by providing bases for coalition forces and for humanitarian assistance. The removal of Taliban regime from power had lifted immediate pressure from Afghanistan’s neighbours which were facing a range of direct security threats from insurgencies to drug trafficking and illegal migration. However, in the aftermath of military conflict in Afghanistan, many Central Asian states are confronted with new challenges which are linked to potential security threats within central Asia itself. They include growing activity of extremist Islamic groups, social instability related to a widespread poverty in rural areas, raising inter-ethnic tensions, unresolved border and water disputes between Central Asian states and most recently the threat of domestic political instability, as was illustrated by recent events in Kyrgyztan.  In light of these developments, the IISS has launched a series of conferences assessing the prospect for regional cooperation in addressing some of these issues and strategies for greater involvement of Central Asian states in reconstruction programmes in Afghanistan. The first conference took place in June in Tashkent in cooperation with the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the president of Republic of Uzbekistan. Follow-up events are planned in other Central Asian states during 2003-2004.

 

For more information on the IISS Caucasus and Central Asia programme please contact Oksana Antonenko, Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia (Antonenko@iiss.org) or Christopher Langton, Senior Fellow for Conflict & Defence Diplomacy  (Langton@iiss.org).

 

 

 

Past Conferences

  • Impediments to Security in the South Caucasus Adam Ward, Director of Studiesm IISS, at the Impediments to Security in the South Caucasus ConferenceIISS in partnership with the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SAM) on Friday 20th November convened a conference in Baku, Azerbaijan on Impediments to Security in the South Caucasus. The event brought together over 200 delegates including parliamentarians, members of the presidential administration, the diplomatic community and international experts. It was widely featured in the local and regional media.
  • Central Asia and Afghanistan: Challenges, Opportunities and Prospects On 11-12 November 2008 IISS and the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Tajikistan held an international conference on Central Asia and Afghanistan; Challenges, Opportunities and Prospects in Dushanbe (Tajikistan).
  • Round table on Shanghai Cooperation Process On 27-28 January2006 the IISS Russia and Eurasia Programme organised a round table meeting entitled Ten Years of the Shanghai Co-operation Process and Regional Security Challenges in Central Asia. The meeting took place in Arundel House as part of the on-going research project on relations between the Shanghai Co-operation organisation and other influential players in Central Asia, which is supported by a grant from Sasakawa Peace Foundation. The meeting was attended by a diverse...
  • Visit to Uzbekistan On 2124 November 2005 Oksana Antonenko visited Uzbekistan where she met with experts from the Institute of World Economy and Diplomacy, the Center for Political Studies, the Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of Uzbekistan and independent experts. Ms Antonenko also spoke at an international conference organised by the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, the Center for Economic Studies and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation on Post-Conflict Reconstruction of...
  • Shanghai Co-operation Organisation & Security On 711 November, Oksana Antonenko, Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia, and Colonel Christopher Langton, Editor of The Military Balance and the Head of the Defence Analysis Department, visited Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. This visit was part of an IISS project on the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) and Security in Central Asia which is funded by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (Japan). The aim of the project is to analyse the development of the SCO and prospects for establishing...
  • War in Iraq and Black Sea Regional Security War in Iraq and Black Sea Regional Security ConferOn 9 May 2003 the Russia and Eurasia Programme hosted a one-day international conference entitled War in Iraq and Black Sea Regional Security.The conference was organised with the Harvard University Black Sea Security Programme. Conference participants included senior officials from the Ministries of Defence, National Security Councils, Foreign Ministries and Parliaments as well as representatives of think-tanks and academic institutes from eight countries of the Black Sea Region:...
  • Central Asian Stability in Post-Conflict Era On June 13-15, 2002 the IISS and the Institute for Strategic and regional Studies (ISRS) under the President of Uzbekistan co-sponsored an international conference in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) on Central Asian Stability in the Post-Conflict Era. The aim of the Conference was to provide a forum for regional, extra-regional, and international decision-makers and a small group of leading regional academics to discuss new challenges and opportunities for all Central Asian states in the...
  • OSCE Samtskhe-Javakheti Development Support IISS Activities in the Caucasus Programme In June 2001, IISS collaborated with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)'s Office of the High Commissioner for National Minorities, and the European Union on developing a strategy for addressing the socio-economic implications of the planned Russian base closure at Akhalkalaki in Georgia.IISS, OSCE experts, Russia's Partner Foundation and the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development conducted three training...