On 24-25 May 2002, an international conference took place at Belokurikha, Altai Region in Siberia, Russia. Entitled, “Western Siberia-Central Asia: regional identity, economy and security”, the conference was organised jointly by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Centre for Oriental Studies at Altai State University, Barnaul and by the International Relations Forum, Moscow. The initiative for the conference was launched by the Russia-Eurasia Programme of the IISS as part of its project, “Russia’s regional perspectives on foreign and security policy”. The conference welcomed 130 participants from different regions of Russia but particularly Siberia and international visitors from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, Sweden, the UK and the US. Amongst the participants were leading academics, regional and municipal politicians, policy practitioners, businessmen, journalists and representatives from non-governmental organisations. Altai region was chosen as the location in the Siberian Federal District for the event because of its geographical proximity to the Central Asian states which gives the region extensive opportunities for intensive trans-border cooperation.
The goals of the conference were: The plenary sessions addressed Russia’s policy towards Central Asia, the implications of the war against terrorism for the region, and regional perspectives on cross-border cooperation. Then participants were divided between four working groups:
The economic space of Central Asia and Western Siberia and cross-border links; An evolving regional identity: historic, ethnological and political factors; Regional security challenges in Central Asia; The security of Russia’s new border regions.
The outcomes of the conference will include a Russian-language collection of conference papers and a selection of the papers translated into English. A report analysing the discussions which came out of the conference the cross-border relations focusing on economics, identity and security will be available in July on the iiss website. The report will include some conclusions and recommendations on how the region addresses foreign and security policy issues. Another long-term outcome of this event will be a continuing academic link between the IISS and the Centre for Oriental Studies at Altai State University. This ties in with one of the aims of the IISS project on the Russian regions, namely to strengthen the capacity of regional academic centres (through publications exchange and fellowships). |
