Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
Johns Hopkins University


"The New Silk Roads: Transport and Trade in Greater Central Asia"

S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute

Representatives of Central Asian Trade Ministries visiting for TIFA Conference

Afghanistan: Masood Aziz, Councilor at the Afghanistan Embassy in Washington DC
Pakistan: Aftab Kazi, Professor of International and Comparative Politics American University in Bishkek
Iran: Abbas Maleki, Director General of the Institute for Caspian Studies in Tehran, Iran
China: Niklas Norling, Project Coordinator, Silk Road Studies Program
Azerbaijan: Taleh Ziyadov, Deputy Executive Director of the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce in       Washington, DC

Wednesday, July 18
5-7 pm
The Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Building
1740 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, China's decision to open trade across its western border and the gradual return of Afghanistan to the community of nations, continental trade spanning the entire Eurasian land mass is again becoming possible.  "The New Silk Roads: Transport and Trade in Greater Central Asia" documents this possibility.  Authors of six of the chapters will make presentations, and Trade Ministers or Trade Ministry representatives from Central Asia, who will be in Washington for other meetings, are expected to comment as well.  Copies of the volume will be available at the program, at the cost of $17.00 in cash, per copy.

S. Frederick Starr, Chairman of the Central Asia Caucasus Institute and of the Silk Road Studies Program Joint Center, conceived the meeting in Kabul in 2006, on which the book is based, and has written the overview chapter.  He is research professor at the Foreign Policy Institute of SAIS.

Light refreshments will be served at 5pm.

Please RSVP with your name and affiliation to caci2@jhu.edu or call 202-663-7721. An RSVP list will be distributed to all guests.

The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute was founded in 1996 and has grown to be the primary institution in the Washington area for the study of the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Caspian Region. The Institute forms part of a Joint Center with the Silk Road Studies Program at Uppsala University in Sweden. The Institute sponsors impartial research on the region, acts as a forum for policymakers both in Washington and abroad, shares information concerning the region and provides access for its sponsors in business to relevant expertise on the region. Additional information about the Institute is available at www.silkroadstudies.org.