The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program is pleased to announce a roundtable on "Energy and Conflict Prevention in Eurasia" on May 25-26 organized in cooperation with the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), Tehran, Iran.

The participants will consist of a 6 person delegation from Iran, 5 persons from the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, and representatives from the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The objective of the roundtable is to share knowledge and expertise on how energy can be used as a conflict preventive measure in Eurasia and to work towards relevant policy recommendations to address these issues. It is generally acknowledged that business interests, energy interdependence, and potential disruption of energy supplies may work as disincentives for states to resort to arms and open conflict. The roundtable seeks to discuss how this applies to the particular Eurasian context, including the Middle East, and how to alert policy-makers of the costs involved in conflict, the potential gains that will accrue from cooperating, and what forms this cooperation could take. The role of research on energy will also be explored. The 1 ½ day roundtable will include brief presentations of prepared papers and this will be followed by discussions.

The specific topics of discussion will be:

1) Efforts to Achieve Energy Security in Iran and Eurasia;

2) Energy and Confidence-Building in Eurasia and Iran-EU Relations;

3) Energy and the Role of Regional Powers in Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East;

4) Iran, Eurasia, and Regional Security;

5) Infrastructure and Energy Cooperation in Asia.

The roundtable forms part of an initiated cooperation between the Institute of Political and International Studies (IPIS) and the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program.

The roundtable is initiated by Mr. Nicklas Norling and Dr. Niklas Swanström.