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 aftermath of the military phase in the US-led operation in Afghanistan.. The Conference was designed to provide an opportunity for informal discussion of the issues of regional concern including economic development and reconstruction, security co-operation against cross-regional threats and prospects for regional integration.
The conference was attended by representatives of all Central Asian States including Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan as well as a delegation from Afghanistan’s Embassy in Tashkent. In addition the conference participants included representatives of the UN, EU, IMF, OSCE, International Crisis Group as well as delegates from the UK, Russia, Iran and the US. The IISS was represented by Oksana Antonenko, Senior Fellow and Programme Director for Russia and Eurasia and Christopher Langton, Editor of Military Balance and Research Fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Programme.
The Central Asian states and other neighbours of Afghanistan will play a key role in promoting peace, stability and reconstruction Afghanistan. They can become both vehicles for integrating Afghanistan into the regional and international community, while at the same time benefiting together with Afghanistan from any development and reconstruction assistance which is provided to the region. Therefore, it was important that the conference provided the first opportunity for Central Asian States to present their draft programmes for reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan, which they are currently elaborating. Many conference participants underlined the importance of making future regional programmes multi-lateral and sustainable. Such a multilateral approach should aim to promote the resolution of more difficult outstanding political and economic issues in Central Asia as a whole, such as joint development of water resources and improvement of border infrastructure in a manner which would not jeopardise regional trade and traditional cross-border ties among divided ethnic communities. Other issues discussed at the conference included proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the region and the role of regional organisations in tackling security and economic development issues in Central Asia.
The conference was the first in a series of meetings organised by IISS in Central Asia with more conferences and smaller seminars planned in other Central Asian states in the future dealing with a wide range of regional security issues. The IISS is also developing institutional co-operation with strategic studies institutes in central Asia and expanding its membership in Central Asia. The conference report with a selection of papers will be published both in Russian and English. More information on the conference is also available on ISRS website www.uzstrateg.info. 
