Astana Club: Greater Eurasia: Towards a New Architecture of Global Cooperation
The capital of Kazakhstan, Nur-Sultan, hosts an annual meeting of the “Astana club” – the largest platform for discussing geopolitics and security in the region. The theme of the fifth meeting of the Club is “Greater Eurasia: Towards a New Architecture of Global Cooperation”. The forum participants discuss the most important issues on what awaits the world’s largest continent and where globalization is moving to. In the center of expert discussions are the current aggravation of the confrontation in the triangle of the United States, P.R.C. and Russia, the growth of trade protectionism and populist sentiment, as well as a new round of escalation around Iran and North Korea. Special attention will be paid to the formation of the future architecture of cooperation in Eurasia, as well as the search for solutions to key global security challenges, such as the problem of uncontrolled proliferation of nuclear weapons. Within the framework of the event, it was presented the next issue of the rating “Top-10 risks for Eurasia in 2020” – a strategic foresight of leading experts from around the world, published under the auspices of the “Astana club” by the Institute of World Economy and Politics. The work of the current meeting of the Astana Club includes the following topics sessions - “World (dis)order: who will write the history of the future?”, “Multipolar Eurasia: is the space of permanent conflicts?”, “Trade wars and protectionism – what will happen to the global economy?”, “The world technological race: a new field of global confrontation”, “The process of nuclear disarmament: what to do?”, “Central Asia at the intersection of global interests: benefits and implications of Heartland”. The meeting is attended by more than 50 international speakers who are the recognized experts in the field of geopolitics, economics and international relations from 23 countries. Among them are 3 former heads of states, 5 ex-Prime Ministers, 10 Ministers. Among the key speakers are Nobel Peace Prize laureate (2005) Mohamed ElBaradei, former President of Afghanistan (2001-2014) Hamid Karzai, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, etc. Traditionally, the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev takes part in the work of the Astana club. Part of the Club meetings are held according to the rules of “Chatham house”, requiring a closed nature of discussions, as well as keen and revealing discussion of the most important issues of Eurasia and the world. Over the years, the Club was participated by more than 200 speakers from 40 countries. On November 11, Foreign Ministers of Iran and Kazakhstan Mohammad Javad Zarif and Mukhtar Tleuberdi held a working dinner in Nur-Sultan within the framework of the current meeting. The Ministers discussed trade and economic cooperation among the Caspian five countries in the field of airlift-sealift forces, etc.
