By Vladimir Socor
ISDP Policy Brief no. 191
December 22, 2015
The year now ending marked a milestone in Kazakhstan’s rapprochement with the European Union. On December 21, 2015 in Astana, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, and Kazakhstan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yerlan Idrissov, signed the EU-Kazakhstan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. This new-generation Agreement replaces and upgrades an earlier, less ambitious document. Kazakhstan is the first Central Asian country to achieve this status vis-a-vis the European Union. This status puts Kazakhstan ahead of Russia in terms of official relations with the EU; moreover, the Kazakhstan-EU relationship is trouble-free.
By Johan Engvall and Svante E. Cornell
ISDP Policy Brief no. 189, December 17, 2015
In the past two years, Kazakhstan has joined the World Trade Organization, obtained a seat at the Asia-Europe Meeting, signed an Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the European Union, announced it would host the EXPO-2017 in Astana, and launched a bid for a rotating seat at the United Nations Security Council. This extraordinary high frequency of international engagements is remarkable, but it represents a difference in degree and not nature in Kazakhstan’s diplomatic history. Indeed, since the fall of the Soviet Union Kazakhstan has developed a record of being the most proactive and innovative former Soviet republic in the sphere of international cooperation.
ISDP Conference
Kazakhstan and Europe: Charting a Path to Progress
Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2015, from 1 to 5:30 p.m.
On December 21 in Astana, the EU and Kazakhstan are slated to sign an enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. This development of closer EU-Kazakhstan relations, in a year when Kazakhstan also joined the WTO, takes place as Kazakhstan's economic and security situation is at a crossroads. Kazakhstan's region harbors considerable uncertainty, while falling commodity prices have forced the government to adjust its priorities, and spurred fundamental economic reform. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan is planning to host the Expo 2017 in Astana, and is promoting a bid for the 2017 UN Security Council.
Conference program:
13.00 - 13.30 Welcome and Introductory Remarks
Dr. Svante Cornell, Director, Institute for Security and Development Policy (click for video)
H.E. Dr. Dastan Yeleukenov, Ambassador of Kazakhstan (click for video)
H.E. Mr. Stefan Gullgren, Head of the Department for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs (click for video)
13.30-15.15 Panel one: Kazakhstan and International Politics
Kazakhstan 2050: Vision for a New Century
Dr. Dauren Aben, Nazarbayev University (click for video)
Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Tariq Rauf, SIPRI
Kazakhstan's Bid for the UNSC
Dr. Johan Engvall, Research Fellow at ISDP and the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (click for video)
Beyond Oil: Astana Expo 2017 and Green Energy
Dr. Nygmet Ibadildin, Associate Professor, KIMEP University (click for video)
15:15 – 15:45 Coffee Break
15:45 – 17:30 Panel Two: Europe and Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan and Europe: Toward a New Partnership
Dr. Michael Emerson, Centre for European Policy Studies (click for video)
Relations with Europe in Kazakhstan's Foreign Policy
Dr. Askar Nursha, Project Coordinator, Institute of World Economy and Politics (click for video)
Kazakhstan: An Island of Stability in a Turbulent Region?
Mr. Vladimir Socor, Senior Fellow, Jamestown Foundation (click for video)
Advancing Continental Transport: the EU and Kazakhstan
Dr. Svante Cornell, Director, Institute for Security and Development Policy (click for video)
Location:
Sheraton Stockholm Hotel
Tegelbacken 6
10123 Stockholm, Sweden
CACI Forum
Central Asia 2050
Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015, from 5 to 7 p.m. (reception at 5 p.m. with Georgian wine, followed by the main program at 5:30)
Speakers Harinder Kohli and Johannes Linn are co-editors of Central Asia 2050, a year-long study conducted by the Emerging Markets Forum. Our forum will discuss the surprisingly positive long-term economic and social prospects and challenges of the Central Asian economies through 2050, based on the highlights and findings of this study.
This CACI Forum may also be viewed on the SAIS events Youtube channel.
Speakers:
Harinder Kohli, President and CEO, Centennial Group and Emerging Markets Forum
Johannes Linn, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development, Brookings Institution
Commentators:
Aktoty Aitzhanova, Chairperson, National Analytic Center, Kazakhstan
Moderator: S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
Rome Building Auditorium
SAIS - Johns Hopkins University
1619 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20036
Click here to RSVP and register