Russia and Eurasia - Video: Recent Episodes
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Major areas of focus include regional security, domestic politics, economic development, trade and transit, defense technology, and energy, among others. CSIS also analyzes the political and economic relationships between the states of the former Soviet Union and other critical geopolitical actors, including the United States, the European Union, and the states of Northeast Asia, South Asia, and the Greater Middle East. This work is anchored by the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program and supplemented by the Burke Chair in Strategy, the International Security Program, and others.
Find the latest research from our scholars and CSIS events on this region below.
Disputes over the regional order in post-Soviet Europe and Eurasia are at the core of the breakdown in Russia-West relations, and have created major security and economic challenges for the states caught in between: first and foremost Ukraine, but also Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Current policy approaches toward the regional order—i.e., the set of rules, norms, and institutions that govern the region—have exacerbated today’s disorder and instability. The authors of a new report offer a comprehensive proposal for revising the regional order. The proposal, which addresses the security architecture, economic integration, and regional conflicts, was devised by four groups of experts convened by the RAND Corporation and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung’s Regional Office for Cooperation and Peace in Europe. Each group included representatives from the West, Russia, and the states in between.
This event is made possible by the generous support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, many in Washington foresee a new Cold War between the United States and China. The comparison to the U.S.-Soviet confrontation enjoys remarkable currency and durability in contemporary debate. For those who fear worsening relations and an insecurity spiral, the Cold War is a warning. For those more concerned about China’s rising economic and military power, authoritarian system, and global ambitions, it is a rallying cry and textbook for lessons. All acknowledge that the world will not replay the Cold War in all of its specifics, but perhaps the United States is facing a cold war.
Rarely does policy debate include careful historical analysis before deploying history. Is the comparison between the Cold War and today’s US-China competition the right historical prism? What are the similarities between then and now that might yield usable lessons for today’s competition? If it is a bad analogy, then how much damage is it doing to U.S. statecraft? Does the comparison inhibit our ability to understand current dynamics and stymie efforts to develop a better strategy? Are we trapped by the analogy merely because it is familiar? Can we find better historical comparisons that could shed light on today’s U.S.-China dynamics?
What would a Cold War historian say to policymakers if asked to answer these questions? CSIS invites you to join the Project on History and Strategy for a discussion with Dr. Melvyn Leffler, a leading historian of the Cold War, Dr. Francis Gavin, leading historian of nuclear policy and Director of the Henry Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, and Jude Blanchette, Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS. Drawing on decades of scholarship, they will analyze the merits and pitfalls of using the Cold War comparison for China from the historian’s perspective.
This event is made possible through general support from CSIS.
China’s rise in the Indo-Pacific is discussed often but what about its growing influence in Eurasia? What political and economic roles does China play in the region and what are the implications? Please join CSIS and George Washington University’s Program on New Approaches to Research and Security in Eurasia (PONARS Eurasia) for a two panel event focused on China’s expanding role in Eurasia.
Agenda
1:15 pm Opening Remarks
Jeffrey Mankoff, Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program, CSIS
1:30-3:00 pm Seminar One: The China Factor in Eurasia
Moderator
Jeffrey Mankoff, Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program, CSIS
Panelists
Hilary Appel, Claremont McKenna College
“Are Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin Partners? Interpreting The Russia-China Rapprochement”
Elizabeth Wishnick, Montclair State University
“Putin and Xi: Ice Cream Buddies and Tandem Strongmen”
Stephen Kaplan, George Washington University
“Chinese and Russian Creditors in Venezuela: Oil Collapse and Political Survival”
Discussant
Jonathan Hillman, Senior Fellow, Simon Chair in Political Economy, and Director, Reconnecting Asia Project, CSIS
Coffee Break 3:00-3:15 pm
3:15 to 4:45 pm Seminar Two: China’s Growing Role in Central Asia and the South Caucasus
Moderator
Henry Hale, George Washington University
Panelists
Eric McGlinchey, George Mason University
“Questioning Sinophobia in Central Asia”
Sebastien Peyrouse, George Washington University
“On the Road to Failure? The Challenges of China’s Soft Power Policy in Central Asia (And Beyond)”
Anar Valiyev, ADA University, Baku
“Azerbaijan Through The Prism of OBOR: Chinese Interests in the Region”
Discussant
*Mariya Omelicheva, Professor of National Security Strategy, National Defense University*
This event was made possible through general support to CSIS.
China’s rise in the Indo-Pacific is discussed often but what about its growing influence in Eurasia? What political and economic roles does China play in the region and what are the implications? Please join CSIS and George Washington University’s Program on New Approaches to Research and Security in Eurasia (PONARS Eurasia) for a two panel event focused on China’s expanding role in Eurasia.
Agenda
1:15 pm Opening Remarks
Jeffrey Mankoff, Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program, CSIS
1:30-3:00 pm Seminar One: The China Factor in Eurasia
Moderator
Jeffrey Mankoff, Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program, CSIS
Panelists
Hilary Appel, Claremont McKenna College
“Are Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin Partners? Interpreting The Russia-China Rapprochement”
Elizabeth Wishnick, Montclair State University
“Putin and Xi: Ice Cream Buddies and Tandem Strongmen”
Stephen Kaplan, George Washington University
“Chinese and Russian Creditors in Venezuela: Oil Collapse and Political Survival”
Discussant
Jonathan Hillman, Senior Fellow, Simon Chair in Political Economy, and Director, Reconnecting Asia Project, CSIS
Coffee Break 3:00-3:15 pm
3:15 to 4:45 pm Seminar Two: China’s Growing Role in Central Asia and the South Caucasus
Moderator
Henry Hale, George Washington University
Panelists
Eric McGlinchey, George Mason University
“Questioning Sinophobia in Central Asia”
Sebastien Peyrouse, George Washington University
“On the Road to Failure? The Challenges of China’s Soft Power Policy in Central Asia (And Beyond)”
Anar Valiyev, ADA University, Baku
“Azerbaijan Through The Prism of OBOR: Chinese Interests in the Region”
Discussant
*Mariya Omelicheva, Professor of National Security Strategy, National Defense University*
This event was made possible through general support to CSIS.
Since the widening of Russia's rift with the West in 2014, relations between Russia and China have entered a new stage, characterized by a more robust political, military and economic cooperation. In spite of a number of problems and asymmetries in bilateral relations, the two states’ interdependence has been growing against the background of mounting tensions with Washington. Are the two countries moving closer to an alliance? What has been the balance between political, military and economic cooperation, and what challenges have emerged? What are the driving factors behind Russia's position on China's Belt and Road Initiative and what is the logic of the Greater Eurasian Partnership? Where do Russia's interests in Asia converge and diverge with those of China and what are the implications? Is there room for U.S.-Russia cooperation in Asia and what would that look like?
This event is made possible by Carnegie Corporation of New York.
On April 23, 2019, the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies will be hosting a discussion on pre-existing and emerging threats to U.S. space systems. The event will kickoff with a keynote from Steve Kitay, DASD for Space Policy. Following Mr. Kitay's remarks, an expert panel will discuss recent global counterspace developments. This event highlights the Aerospace Security Project’s new report, Space Threat Assessment 2019, and the Secure World Foundation’s new report, Global Counterspace Capabilities.
Following the discussion, please join us for a screening of a new documentary, Commanding Space: The Story Behind the Space Force, produced by the CSIS Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab. To celebrate the launch of both the new report and the documentary, we invite you to stay after the screening for a networking reception.
This event is made possible through general support to CSIS.
Following decades of confrontation between Washington and Pyongyang, chances for at least a partial normalization appeared to increase last year. However, two summits between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump failed to produce substantive policy changes on either side, and mutual distrust remains high. What are the main factors preventing the two countries from achieving a lasting agreement? Is continued bilateral dialogue useful? What are the positions and goals of the parties concerned? Is normalization U.S.-North Korea relations even possible? What role can third parties, such as China and Russia, play in U.S.-North Korean diplomacy?
Please join us as Anastasia Barannikova, a visiting fellow with the Russia and Eurasia Program at CSIS, provides a view from Vladivostok on these questions and others.
The Russian Visiting Fellows Program at CSIS is made possible by the generous support of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
At a time of unprecedented tension in U.S.-Russia relations, understanding why the two countries pursue conflicting foreign policies requires not just a close reading of their political institutions and security environments, but of how the two publics perceive each other and the world. Is Russia more or less respected than it was five years ago? Should the U.S. cooperate with or contain Russia? Are sanctions against Russia working? Do Americans want arms control? Is Russia a threat to U.S. national security? Is America the biggest threat posed to Russia?
Please join us for a presentation of the findings from a new binational study of American and Russian public opinion conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Levada Analytical Center. Researchers from the Council and Levada will discuss and provide context for public perceptions of Russia’s return to prominence on the world stage, interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, the crisis in Ukraine, and the possibility of a new arms race.
This event is made possible by the generous support of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
The collapse of the Soviet Union left Russia encircled by weak states and fractured regions. Some of the divisions around Russia’s periphery are legacies of the Soviet Union and Russian Empire. Others are the result of contemporary political and economic divides. From Balkans to Central Asia and the Middle East, Russia seeks to manipulate these fractures to strengthen its own influence.
This event is made possible by the generous support of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
In recent years Russian influence in Afghanistan has grown. This development is striking, since for three decades after the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, Moscow has demonstrated little appetite for involvement or intervention south of the post-Soviet space. What is driving Russia’s return to Afghanistan? What is at stake now for Russia in and around Afghanistan? How does Afghanistan fit into broader Russian foreign policy objectives? Are the United States and Russia moving toward competition or rivalry in and around Afghanistan?
This event is made possible by the generous support of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
With presidential elections set for the spring, Ukraine’s election season is in full-swing. Candidates from across the political spectrum are running, and, as in many previous Ukrainian elections, the outcome is not foreordained. Will incumbent Petro Poroshenko seek re-election—and if so, does he have a chance of winning? Will Yulia Tymoshenko complete her political renaissance? And what are the implications of the election for Ukraine’s future, including the conflict in the Donbas?
This event is made possible by general support to CSIS.
This discussion, following the midterm elections, will assess what we saw--and didn't see--in those elections. It will also examine foreign influence operations that go beyond elections to undermine other democratic institutions, such as our justice system, and democracy itself. Finally, we will discuss ways to counter this national security threat.
This event is made possible with the help of the American Bar Association Committee on Law and National Security and the financial support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Democracy Fund.
Please join us for the seventh joint conference of CSIS and the Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding (CPRDU), entitled, the "Transatlantic Forum on Russia." Since 2012 CSIS and CPRDU have partnered to examine the impact of Polish-Russian reconciliation and its wider regional and transatlantic implications. Following Russia’s 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea and military incursions into eastern Ukraine, and its military and covert operations in Syria, Salisbury, and elsewhere, the Forum’s focus has turned to formulating a long-term transatlantic policy framework towards Russia. The Forum convenes five months after the U.S.-Russia Summit in Helsinki, nine days after the U.S. mid-term elections, and four days after President Trump’s meeting with Russian President Putin in Paris on the margins of the centenarian commemoration of the end of the First World War. Regional and U.S. experts will assess the role that history plays in shaping both Russia’s and the West’s narrative as well as to examine the success that Russian malign influence has had in undermining confidence in democratic institutions and leaders in Europe and the United States.
This event is made possible through support from Center for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding.
With reports of food shortages in Turkmenistan and deepening economic troubles in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia’s economic situation looks increasingly precarious. Please join us to discuss the implications of these economic challenges for the region, the authorities’ response, the impact on ordinary citizens, and the larger geopolitical consequences. This event is made possible through general support from CSIS.
At a time of great global change, European nations, Russia included, are rethinking security institutions and interests, including their relationships with one another and with the United States. At the same time, Russia itself is a crucial factor in its neighbors’ and others’ decision calculus about how security on the European continent might be best attained and preserved. Join us as we bring together some of Russia, Europe, and America’s top analysts to discuss what might happen, and how Russia is likely to affect and be affected by the evolving European security order.
This event is made possible by the generous support of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
CSIS Transnational Threats Project cordially invites you to a book launch event for Director Seth G. Jones’ newly released A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA, and the Cold War Struggle In Poland. (W. W. Norton & Company)
Moderated by
Kathleen H. Hicks
Senior Vice President; Henry A. Kissinger Chair; Director, International Security Program
With
Seth G. Jones
Harold Brown Chair; Director, Transnational Threats Project; and Senior Adviser, International Security Program
December, 1981—the CIA receives word that the Polish government has cut telephone communications with the West and closed the Polish border. The agency’s leaders quickly inform President Ronald Reagan, who is enjoying a serene weekend at Camp David. Within hours, Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski has appeared on Polish national television to announce the establishment of martial law. A new era in Cold War politics has begun: Washington and Moscow are on a collision course.
In this gripping narrative history, Seth G. Jones reveals the little-known story of the CIA’s subsequent operations in Poland, which produced a landmark victory for democracy during the Cold War. While the Soviet-backed Polish government worked to crush a budding liberal opposition movement, the CIA began a sophisticated intelligence campaign, code-named QRHELPFUL, that supported dissident groups. The most powerful of these groups was Solidarity, a trade union that swelled to a membership of ten million and became one of the first legitimate anti-Communist opposition movements in Eastern Europe. With President Reagan’s support, the CIA provided money that helped Solidarity print newspapers, broadcast radio programs, and conduct a wide-ranging information warfare campaign against the Soviet-backed government. QRHELPFUL proved vital in establishing a free and democratic Poland.
Long overlooked by CIA historians and Reagan biographers, the story of QRHELPFUL features an extraordinary cast of characters—including spymaster Bill Casey, CIA officer Richard Malzahn, Polish-speaking CIA case officer Celia Larkin, Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, and Pope John Paul II. Based on in-depth interviews and recently declassified evidence, A Covert Action celebrates a decisive victory over tyranny for U.S. intelligence behind the Iron Curtain, one that prefigured the Soviet collapse.
This event was made possible through support from CSIS.
With the growth of social media, disinformation has become an increasingly potent political tool. State and non-state actors from various countries, among them Russia and China, have become adept at manufacturing and spreading disinformation or using covert campaigns to influence public perception and political outcomes in democratic countries around the world. Responding to this threat requires policy makers to integrate insights from different countries and from academic fields that are too often siloed, including communications, computer science, and social psychology.
This event is made possible by the generous support of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
Over the course of the last year, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has hosted a strategic dialogue for U.S. and Russian experts focusing on crisis stability. Two workshops brought together Russian and U.S. experts to discuss how the evolution of technology, operational approaches, and policy affect crisis stability, and what steps could be taken to enhance it given the evolving environment. Please join us on June 13, 10:00-11:30AM as Sharon Squassoni, Olga Oliker, and Andrey Baklitskiy discuss the project and what we learned.
The final report summarizing these discussions, “U.S.-Russia Strategic Dialogue on Crisis Stability,” is now published and available, here, as are discussion papers prepared by project participants in support of our efforts.
This project was made possible by support from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) Project on Advanced Systems and Concepts for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (PASCC).
Please join us for the next installment of the Schieffer Series, Russian Active Measures: Past, Present, and Future. The discussion will focus on U.S.-Russian information warfare and how we can learn lessons from the past. During the Cold War, the Soviets engaged in a series of “active measures” to influence populations across the globe, including in the United States. In response, the Reagan Administration responded with a combination of overt and covert information operations. This panel will explore lessons from the Reagan Administration and implications for today.
Event - 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Pre-Event Reception - 5:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Hosted by CBS News legend and CSIS Trustee Bob Schieffer, the Schieffer Series features thoughtful panel discussions with senior officials, lawmakers, journalists, and policy experts to discuss global challenges and critical issues of national security and foreign policy.
Now in its 10th consecutive year, the Schieffer Series is produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in partnership with the Bob Schieffer College of Communication at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas.
This series is made possible with the generous support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
For information or inquiries contact externalrelations@csis.org.
The CSIS Russia and Eurasia Program in cooperation with Eurasia Foundation invite you to join us for the U.S. debut screening of All for One, One for All at CSIS Headquarters.
All for One, One for All is a collaborative documentary produced by filmmakers with disabilities from Russia and the U.S. This collection of short films focuses on the daily lives, aspirations, and challenges of people with intellectual and physical disabilities. The film was produced with support from the US Department of State, Mr. Pierre Bastid and Eurasia Foundation. Join us to learn more about this unique project and how the filmmakers are changing the dialogue on disabilities and U.S.-Russian relations.
The forty-minute film will be followed by a Q&A featuring one of the film's directors, two-time Academy Award nominee and 16-time national Emmy Award winner Jon Alpert and contributor Jonathan Novick. Novick uses film-making as a tool to offer viewers a look into the daily challenges he faces navigating the world. Olga Oliker, Director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at CSIS, will moderate.
This event is made possible by the generous support of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Russia’s five day war with Georgia in 2008 was victorious, but brought to light a number of inadequacies in Russia’s military forces and capabilities. As a result, the conflict was followed by sweeping reforms and a streak of big-budget military procurements. Since 2015, Russian operations in Syria have served as a public testing ground for the resulting, reformed Russian military. What does Russia’s performance in Syria tell us about the advances that have been made? What specific capabilities has Russia acquired? Which branches of the armed services have benefited the most from reforms and procurement, and where has progress lagged? Can Syria tell us which reforms have been more or less successful? And what does all of this mean for Russia’s strategic balance with NATO? Anton Lavrov, visiting fellow with the Russia and Eurasia Program, will present his assessment of Syria as a scorecard for the Russian military and its reforms.
This event is made possible by the generous support of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
10:00 – 10:30 Welcoming Remarks:
Elisabeth Kvitashvili, President, Georgian Association in the USA
Redjeb Jordania, Son of the First President of the Georgian Republic Noe Jordania
Tina Mikeladze, President, Levan Mikeladze Foundation
Ambassador David Bakradze, Ambassador of Georgia to the United States
10:30 – 10:40 Address by Bridget Brink, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
10:40 – 12:00 Panel 1 – First Republic: Connecting History to Modernity
Speakers:
Stephen Jones, Professor, Mount Holyoke College
Beka Kobakhidze, Visiting Fellow at the Center for Russian and East European Studies, University of Oxford/Associated Professor at GIPA
Grigol Gegelia, Doctoral Candidate, European University Institute (EUI), Florence, Italy
Discussant: Laura Jewett, Regional Director for Eurasia Programs, NDI
Moderator:
Jeffrey Mankoff, Deputy Director, Russia & Eurasia Program, CSIS
12:05 – 13:00 Lunch
Remarks and Introduction:
Ambassador Tedo Japaridze, Foreign Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister of Georgia
Keynote Speaker:
Hon. Richard Armitage, Former Deputy Secretary of State/Co-Chairman, Supervisory Board, Levan Mikeladze Foundation
13:00 – 14:30 Panel 2 – Georgia’s Evolution, 1991-2018: Internal and External Dynamics
Speakers:
Ambassador Archil Gegeshidze, Director, Levan Mikeladze Foundation
Svante Cornell, Director, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
Luke Coffey, Director, Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy, Heritage Foundation
Nino Japaridze, Vice President, Edison Research
Miriam Lanskoy, Senior Director for Russia and Eurasia, NED
Michael Carpenter, Senior Director, Biden Center
Moderator: Olga Oliker, Director, Russia & Eurasia Program, CSIS
14:30 – 14:45 Coffee Break
14:45 – 16:15 Panel 3 – Economic Security of Georgia: Domestic, Regional, Global Perspective
Speakers:
Mercedes Vera-Martin, Mission Chief for Georgia, IMF
Anthony Kim, Editor, Economic Freedom Index, Heritage Foundation
Jonathan Elkind, Former Assistant Secretary of Energy
Giorgi Tsikolia, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Georgia
Kenneth Angell, Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Anita Baracsi, JSC Bank of Georgia
Moderator: Mamuka Tsereteli, AGBC/CACI/Georgian Association in the USA
16:15 – 16:30 Coffee Break
16:30 – 18:00 Panel 4 – Western Strategies Towards Georgia: 1991-2018
Speakers:
Ambassador Kent Brown, Former US Ambassador to Georgia
Ambassador Kenneth Yalowitz, Former US Ambassador to Georgia
Ambassador Richard Miles, Former US Ambassador to Georgia
Ambassador John Tefft, Former US Ambassador to Georgia
Elisabeth Kvitashvili, President, Georgian Association in the USA
Moderator: Hon. S. Enders Wimbush, Senior Partner, Stratevarious Inc.
6:00 Closing Remarks
Tsotne Dadiani, Board Member, Georgian Association in the USA
This event is made possible by the generous support of the Levan Mikeladze Foundation and the Georgian Association in the USA.
Four years after the U.S. and EU first imposed sanctions against Russia in response to its annexation of Crimea in March 2014, how effective have these sanctions been in changing the regime’s behavior?
In 2014, Russia experienced a deep recession as global energy prices precipitously dropped. But in 2018, the World Bank projects that Russia will experience GDP growth of around 1.7 percent and the Central Bank of Russia has effectively managed price stability. However, Russia is having to make painful budget choices and turning increasingly to China for infrastructure financing.
As Russia continues its military interventions in Eastern Ukraine and Syria, its malign influence operations across Europe and in the United States, and recently deployed a chemical weapon on NATO territory, it appears that four years of Western sanctions has not altered Russian behavior in its neighborhood and beyond. If anything, Russia has used Western sanctions as a domestic policy tool to nationalize industries while retaining access to the Western financial system. This half-day event will explore the effectiveness of sanctions against Russia and their impact on Russian foreign and security policy.
Please join the CSIS Simon Chair in Political Economy and the Europe Program on the afternoon of Monday, May 7 for two expert panel discussions exploring the impact of sanctions on the Russian economy and its foreign policy, followed by keynote remarks by Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD).
This event is part of the Simon Chair's Economic Statecraft Speaker Series, a forum to highlight the strategic role of economics in foreign policy and to explore the making of international economic policy. It is made possible by the generous support of Arconic Foundation.
AGENDA
12:30pm Lunch Served
1:00pm Panel One: Sanctions and the Russian Economy
Sergey Aleksashenko
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development, Brookings and Former Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia
Elizabeth Rosenberg
Senior Fellow and Director, Energy, Economics and Security Program, Center for a New American Security
David Murray
Former Director of the Office of Illicit Finance, Treasury Department
Moderated by:
Matthew P. Goodman
U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, Department of State
Ambassador Kurt Volker
Panel Two: Sanctions and Russian Foreign Policy 2:30pm
William E. Simon Chair in Political Economy and Senior Adviser for Asian Economics, CSIS
Olga Oliker
Heather A. Conley
Moderated by:
Senior Adviser and Director, Russia and Eurasia Program, CSIS
Senior Vice President for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic; and Director, Europe Program, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD)
Keynote Speech 3:45pm
CSIS
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is a $100 billion multilateral development bank that first opened in 2016. Initiated by China, its membership is global, with regional powers, from Korea to Saudi Arabia, and key players from Europe, Africa, and Latin America. Its arms reach far: in its first two years, it has financed a geographically and sectorally diverse set of projects in Pakistan, Oman, India, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, and Indonesia. Please join the Simon Chair's Reconnecting Asia Project for a conversation with Natalie Lichtenstein, Chief Counsel for the 57-country negotiations that led to the AIIB's founding and the principal drafter of the Bank's charter, to discuss her new book: A Comparative Guide to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
This event is made possible through general support to CSIS.
In his recent address to the Federal Assembly, President Vladimir Putin touted a number of new additions to Russia’s strategic weapons arsenal. His list included a nuclear-armed autonomous torpedo, hypersonic glide vehicles, and a nuclear-powered cruise missile. Some of these projects were long in the works, and well-known globally. Others were more of a surprise. What is the status of these systems? How developed are they, and how long until they are fully deployed? What impact will they have on the strategic balance between the United States and Russia? Please join us for a discussion with Leonid Nersisyan on the plans, realities, and prospects of these systems. Michael Kofman, Senior Research Scientist at CNA, will moderate.
This event is made possible by the generous support of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Kyrgyzstan’s former President Almazbek Atambayev is back in politics following his unchallenged appointment as head of the ruling Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK) on March 31.
His return to politics comes amid rumors of tensions between him and current President Sooronbai Jeenbekov, his handpicked successor elected just over 100 days ago.
In his first comment after the inauguration, the former president suggested that the presence of Jeenbekov’s brother in parliament “doesn't look good.” His comment followed an earlier decision by his top lieutenant, Farid Niyazov, to resign as President Jeenbekov's chief of staff.
What is driving the apparent tension between Kyrgyzstan’s current and former presidents? And what does Atambayev's return to active politics mean for the future of the Atambayev-Jeenbekov alliance, the current Kyrgyz government, and Kyrgyzstan's political future?
Please join CSIS and RFE/RL for this timely conversation with Venera Djumataeva, Director of RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service.
This event is made possible by general support to CSIS.
After ten years of military modernization and defense reform, Russia's military is now a reliable instrument of national power that can be used in a limited context to achieve vital national interests. Russian strategists, concerned about instability along the Russian periphery or an aerospace attack on the Russian heartland, are focused on preserving influence in buffer states and on reinforcing defensive bulwarks. Russian military strategy and operations show an increasing degree of coordination, deception, and simultaneity to achieve objectives quickly while minimizing vulnerabilities. What does the evolution of Russia’s armed forces, its strategy, and the way it uses force tell us about the future?
Please join us for a discussion with Scott Boston and Dara Massicot on how current Russian military capabilities have evolved to enable coordinated, multi-domain operations.
This event is made possible by the generous support of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
As its region grows increasingly turbulent, the Republic of Armenia strives to continue the delicate balancing act it has pursued since independence, deepening ties with the West while remaining allied to Russia. Yet shifts in both the domestic and foreign political environments portend new difficulties for Armenia. At home, the move toward a parliamentary system following the controversial December 2015 constitutional referendum has raised concerns about the state of democracy. Meanwhile, the crisis in relations between Russia and the West, coupled with the potential resumption of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which briefly broke into open conflict in the spring of 2016, threatens regional stability. Amid these tectonic shifts, how can Western policy towards Armenia be better calibrated to advance goals of regional peace, security, and development?
This event is made possible by general support to CSIS.
The collapse of Islamic State control in Syria has been hailed in both Russia and the United States as a victory over terrorism. Both credit their country’s military involvement with victory. But the war that continues in Syria also lays bare Moscow and Washington’s conflicting definitions and approaches when it comes to terrorism, insurgency, and combat operations. Moreover, even if a path to stabilization in that country is found, America and Russia will continue to face terrorism and terrorists at home and abroad. The ways in which these two crucial countries respond as the threat evolves will shape both their own polities and the world as a whole.
Please join us on Friday, March 30 for an expert discussion of what we can expect from the end game in Syria and after; emerging trends in terrorism and violent extremism; and the evolution and implications of U.S. and Russian policies and roles.
Moderated by Dr. Olga Oliker.
This event is organized in partnership with EastWest Institute.
Over the last three decades, migrants from the Russian North Caucasus have participated in local and global armed conflicts of different varieties. In many cases, they have done so as groups, or networks, representing one or more community. In the 1990s, Circassians fought in the Abkhazian war (1992) and in the first Chechen war (1995), though they withdrew from these conflicts when the struggle for a free Ichkeria turned into an al-Qaeda-branded jihadist movement. More recently, Chechens, Dagestanis and members of other North Caucasian Islamic communities have left in large numbers to fight in Syria—including with the pro-ISIS group Al-Baghdadi and with other anti-Assad forces.
Meanwhile, other migrants from the North Caucasus have made many European and Russian cities their homes, while maintaining strong links to their place of origin. What relationship, if any, exists between the networks of Muslims from the North Caucasus that have built peaceful lives around the world and the networks that have facilitated and taken part in armed extremism? What makes some migrants seek violent solutions while others integrate into modern democratic societies? Denis Sokolov, a long-time student of communities and networks from the North Caucasus, will lead a discussion to help understand how these questions might be answered today and in the future.
This event is made possible by the generous support of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Russian efforts to sow discord in democratic societies have leveraged traditional covert and clandestine tools, military confrontation, and new technologies such as social media platforms, to shape political events beyond their borders. This approach is low cost, seemingly low risk, and has been more successful than Russian leaders could have imagined. Responding to these tactics requires some kind of response if we are to change Russian behavior. Join us for a public discussion of what are the options are for responding to Russian activities. Speakers will discuss what tools the U.S. government has at its disposal to impose consequences and combat Russian encroachment.
This event is made possible through general support to CSIS.
Over the last year, Russia has been in the news, real and fake, as possibly never before. To many Americans, Moscow has emerged as our greatest threat, embarked on a concerted campaign to undermine democracy across the world. And Vladimir Putin is the man responsible.
But Russia is also over 140 million people, spread across 11 time zones, with diverse experiences, lives, and worldviews. Behind the towers of the Kremlin is a complicated country still navigating its identity and global course.
On March 18, Russians will vote (and some will stay home) in a Presidential election which all but a very few agree is pre-determined. With Vladimir Putin sure to emerge victorious for a fourth term, how do those Russians see the world? Why, in this multicultural, multiethnic land, is one man poised to enjoy over two decades of rule? Do most Russians truly support Putin? Which ones? Is their support unconditional? What sort of government and society do they want, and what sort are they building? What does all of that tell us about Russia’s future trajectory and its relationship with the United States?
Join for a focused expert discussion that unpacks Russian attitudes, Russian politics, and Russian interests on the eve of their presidential vote—and emerge with a better understanding of Russia, its President, and what it all might mean for the United States.
Discussion will be moderated by Susan Glasser of POLITICO.
This event is made possible by the generous support of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
As Europe disappears, Asia coheres. The supercontinent is becoming one fluid, comprehensible unit of trade and conflict, as the Westphalian system of states weakens and older, imperial legacies – Russian, Chinese, Iranian, Turkish – become paramount. Please join the Simon Chair's Reconnecting Asia Project for a conversation with Robert D. Kaplan about his new book, The Return of Marco Polo's World: War, Strategy, and American Interests in the Twenty-first Century, to discuss how Eurasia's coherence impacts the U.S. ability to influence the power balance in Eurasia.
Featuring:
Robert D. Kaplan
Author of The Return of Marco Polo's World
Moderated by:
Matthew P. Goodman
William E. Simon Chair in Political Economy, CSIS
The event will be followed by a brief reception. Light refreshments will be served.
This event is made possible by general funding to CSIS.
Why did the German army continue to fight the Allies even in the face of certain defeat? Following the Battle of Stalingrad and defeats on other fronts in 1943, the tide had turned against the German war machine – and most German officers knew it. The Wehrmacht’s Last Stand chronicles the final campaigns of WWII in Europe from January 1944 until the Wehrmacht’s ultimate collapse and the storming of Berlin by the Red Army in May 1945. Join us as Dr. Citino traces the “death ride” of the German army and explains why millions of men kept fighting in the face of increasingly hopeless odds.
Please join us for a conversation with Ksenia Sobchak, Candidate for President of the Russian Federation, on prospects and hopes for Russia's post-authoritarian future. Dr. John J. Hamre, President and CEO of CSIS, will make introductory remarks. Following a presentation from Ms. Sobchak. Dr. Olga Oliker, director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at CSIS, will moderate discussion.
Check-in and registration will occur from 8:45 - 9:30 AM.
Russian Speaker Series events are made possible by the generous support of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
The impact of oil, corruption, and state overreach on Russia's economy are well documented. Less well understood is how economic growth interacts with social inequality in Russia. Please join us for a discussion with Leonid Grigoryev, Professor in the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at the Higher School for Economics in Moscow, on how social and regional inequality are constraining Russia's economic recovery. Yuval Weber, the inaugural DMGS-Kennan Institute Fellow at the Daniel Morgan Graduate School, will serve as discussant. Olga Oliker will moderate.
This event is made possible by the generous support of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
The CSIS Energy & National Security Program is pleased to host Peter Fraser, Head of Division for Gas, Coal, and Power Markets at the International Energy Agency, for the U.S. launch of the IEA's Coal 2017: Analysis and Forecasts to 2022.
The future of coal - the world's dominant fuel for more than a century - continues to be one of the most pressing questions in the energy sector. Coal is under pressure in many regions of the world for its contribution to greenhouse gases. In power generation, fast-growing renewables and cheap, abundant natural gas have also complicated coal's future.
The IEA's Coal 2017 report provides a comprehensive analysis of recent trends and forecast through 2022 of coal demand, supply, and trade at both a global and regional level. The report's insights help to explain the current developments in coal markets and provide a window into the fuel's future over the next five years.
The CSIS Energy & National Security Program is pleased to host the launch of the Global CCS Institute's annual 2017 Global Status of CCS.
The past year saw the successful startup of two new, large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities, while others in Canada, China, and Australia moved closer to completion as they continue to grow. For CCS to play a major role in meeting the Paris Agreement's two-degree warming limit, adoption of CCS must accelerate in the next decade.
The 2017 Status of CCS highlights key determining factors for the role of CCS in meeting these climate targets. Innovative technologies, improving markets for CO2 utilization, and reducing industrial emissions with CCS are all positive trends, but government policies at the federal, state, and local levels—along with international cooperation—remain critical for the path forward.
Serhii Plokhy, professor of history at Harvard University, links five centuries of Russian history to contemporary affairs in his new book Lost Kingdom: The Quest for Empire and the Making of the Russian Nation. In an endorsement of the book, Garry Kasparov writes, “In Lost Kingdom, Serhii Plokhy does for Russia what only great historians can do—make the connections between the distant past and vital present feel relevant and alive.” Please join us for a discussion of this compelling new history.
The fates of China, Russia, and the United States, are profoundly bound to the Asian continent. Historically, these powers have shaped and been shaped by Asia, and it is clear that Asia continues to factor centrally in their strategic thinking. In recent years, both Russia and the United States have paid more attention to Asia as a central theater in 21 century geopolitics. With its Belt and Road Initiative and expansive activities in maritime Asia, China is also playing a more active role in Asian geopolitics today. Yet all three powers also face significant uncertainty. The election of Donald Trump thrust uncertainty into the future of US foreign policy, including in Asia. The recent 19th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was widely interpreted as a prelude to a more assertive China. Russia’s own relations with Beijing and Washington are in flux, and Russia will have its own election in March 2018.
Where does Asia fit in the grand strategic visions of China, Russia, and the U.S.—and what are the implications for regional security? Where is there room for cooperation, and where is there a real possibility of confrontation? What form might either of these take?
Please join us to discuss these topics at CSIS headquarters on November 9, from 1:00-2:30 PM. Anna Kireeva will speak on Russia's Asia policy. Yun Sun will speak on China's Asia policy. Bonnie Glaser will speak on U.S. policy towards Asia. Jeff Mankoff will moderate.
The annexation of Crimea presaged a shift in the Russian government’s policy towards ethnic minorities in the Russian Federation that involved a simultaneous centralization of political power by the Kremlin and the Russification of certain indigenous societies in Russia. As one of Russia’s largest non-Russian ethnic communities, Tatars were among the first to feel this shift—both in the republic of Tatarstan, and in the annexed Ukrainian territory of Crimea. Attempts to downgrade the status of Tatar language in curricula in Tatarstan, repressions against secular and conservative ethnic Tatar activists, the crackdown against Crimean Tatar Milli Mejlis, and Russian state pressure on US-funded Tatar language media in Russia are but a few examples of the Kremlin’s new policy of Russification. Please join us for a discussion with Rim Gilfanov, head of RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service, to explore what it means to be a Tatar in today’s Russia, following the annexation of Crimea.
This event is made possible by the generous support of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
The CSIS Energy and National Security Program is pleased to host Heymi Bahar, Project Manager of the Renewable Energy Division at the International Energy Agency (IEA), for a presentation of the IEA's Renewable Energy Market Report 2017 (formerly titled Medium-Term Renewables Market Report). The report provides a detailed market analysis and overview of renewable electricity capacity and generation, biofuels production, and heat consumption, as well as a forecast for the period between 2017 and 2022. This year's report also assesses the off-grid solar market in Africa and developing Asia and the contribution of electric vehicles to renewable road transport.
Additionally, the Renewable Energy Market Report 2017 identifies a set of policy improvements in key markets that could accelerate the growth of renewables in the electricity sector as well as transport biofuels, necessary in all sectors for increased decarbonisation on track with long-term climate goals.
Kevin Book, Senior Associate (Non-resident) with the CSIS Energy & National Security Program, will moderate.
The countries of Central Asia, like all states, face the imperative to adjust their policies when global politics turn turbulent, even as they respond to regional security challenges. In the 1990s these five countries sought wide international attention to support their political sovereignty, with varying degrees of success. In the 2000s, they found themselves to be of more interest to three superpowers: the United States, China, and Russia, with the United States and Russia, in particular, viewing one another as competitors in the region. For the governments of Central Asia, early hopes that this great-power competition could benefit their states quickly faded. Rather than successfully playing off the bigger powers against each other, local elites encountered increased risk as the larger powers sought to influence Central Asian economies and internal politics for their own purposes. Now, the Central Asian governments need to find solutions to a new dilemma: as the United States, China, and Russia recalibrate their policies and interests, and in some cases turn away from the region, Central Asian states must seek to preserve the benefits of great power attention while not becoming pawns in any competitions that may emerge.
This event is made possible by the generous support to the CSIS Russia and Eurasia program from Carnegie Corporation of New York.
A geoeconomic contest is underway to shape Asia’s future. Regional powers are putting forward ambitious plans for building roads, railways, pipelines, and other hard infrastructure - changes that have the potential to dramatically alter the flow of goods, people, and ideas within and between countries. Please join Reconnecting Asia, a CSIS initiative that maps Asia's new linkages - roads, railways, and other infrastructure - for a discussion with CSIS's leading regional experts on how these developments could re-shape the future of the super-continent.
Featuring a panel discussion with:
Jon B. Alterman
Senior Vice President, Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, and Director, Middle East Program
Bulent Aliriza
Director and Senior Associate, Turkey Project
Heather A. Conley
Senior Vice President for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic; and Director, Europe Program
Michael J. Green
Senior Vice President for Asia and Japan Chair
Christopher K. Johnson
Senior Adviser and Freeman Chair in China Studies
Olga Oliker
Senior Adviser and Director, Russia and Eurasia Program
Richard M. Rossow
Senior Adviser and Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies
Amy Searight
Senior Adviser and Director, Southeast Asia Program
Moderated by:
Matthew P. Goodman
William E. Simon Chair in Political Economy and Senior Adviser for Asian Economics
The CSIS Energy & National Security Program is pleased to host Laszlo Varro, Chief Economist at the International Energy Agency (IEA), to discuss the IEA's World Energy Investment 2017. Energy investment in 2016 totaled 1.7 trillion dollars, around 2.2 percent of the global economy. The report covers critical details about energy investment across various energy sectors, sources, and regions. It also includes a special focus on a wide array of topics, including how digitization is impacting investment and employment, global investment in innovation, and the impact of emerging business models. The report assesses the importance of energy policy driving investment into energy efficiency and into facilities that ensure adequate levels of energy security.
Jane Nakano, Senior Fellow with the CSIS Energy & National Security Program, will moderate.
This event is made possible by general funding to CSIS and the Energy & National Security Program.
The CSIS Energy and National Security Program is pleased to host Ian Mead, Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Office of Energy Analysis, to present the EIA's International Energy Outlook 2017 (IEO2017).
The IEO2017 includes long-term projections of world energy demand by region and primary energy source; electricity generation by energy source; and energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. Among other topics, Dr. Mead will discuss EIA's view on long-term petroleum and other liquids fuel supplies, prospects for global natural gas markets, regional energy demand growth, and key uncertainties that may alter long-term projections.
Frank Verrastro, Senior Vice President and Trustee Fellow, CSIS, will moderate.
The CSIS Russia and Eurasia Program welcomes Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze. Following an introduction from CSIS President and CEO Dr. John Hamre, the Vice Prime Minister will make remarks on Ukraine's role in European and Euro-Atlantic Security, reform efforts underway in Ukraine, and priorities in the U.S.-Ukraine bilateral relationship. CSIS Russia and Eurasia Program Director, Dr. Olga Oliker, will moderate the ensuing discussion.
Please join the Center for Strategic and International Studies for a conversation about how traditional and new media outlets are influencing the narrative on world affairs. By highlighting the diverse perspectives of the panelists, the event will bring insight into how newsrooms are shaping and communicating international events.
Please join the CSIS Missile Defense Project and the CSIS Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group (DIIG) for The Russia Challenge in Europe: The INF Treaty and Implications for Army Modernization, featuring a keynote address by Senator Tom Cotton. The event will also roll out DIIG's new report, The Army Modernization Imperative: A New Big Five for the Twenty First Century. Additional speakers to be announced.
1000-1020: Remarks by Sen. Tom Cotton
1020-1055: Q&A Discussion w/ Sen. Cotton, moderated by Dr. Thomas Karako
1100-1200: Panel Discussion to rollout report The Army Modernization Imperative
1200: Event Concludes
This report was made possible by the generous support of General Dynamics, DRS Technologies and L-3 Technologies.
The CSIS Energy and National Security Program is pleased to host Eirik Wærness, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of Statoil, to present the company's newly released Energy Perspectives 2017.
The Energy Perspectives report summarizes different narratives about global energy demand and energy mix for the future decades, scenarios, based on different assumptions about regional and global economic growth, conflict levels and implications, technological development and energy and climate policies. In the 2017 version, models have been adjusted with last year’s developments in the energy and climate policy area, technology costs and maturity, more thorough assessments of GDP forecasts, as well as included adjustments made to historic global COemissions. The modelling runs to 2050 with 2014 as baseline year, and provides a forecast for global energy demand and energy mix, economic growth, CO emissions, and more.
Please RSVP no later than Wednesday, June 21st.