On 7–11 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 dialogue and co-operation between the SCO and other influential actors in Central Asia.
In Kazakhstan the IISS delegation held meetings and round table discussions with representatives from the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of Kazakhstan, the Center for Foreign Policy and Analysis, Continent Journal, the International Institute for Modern Politics, the Institute for World Economy and Politics under the Foundation of the First President of Kazakhstan and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Kazakhstan Academy of Sciences.
During their visit to Kyrgyzstan the team held meetings with experts from the International Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of Kyrgyzstan, the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan and the United Nations Development Programme. Ms Antonenko and Col. Langton also met with Major-General Kubanychbek Oruzbayev, Deputy Minister of Defence.
