Workshop #2: Russia-China Defense and Security Relationship in Central Asia
Abstract:
For the past few years, China has been slowly increasing its military footprint in Central Asia. This is making Russia ill-at-ease and circumspect of Beijing's intentions. The workshop will explore the current and future state of affairs in the relationship between Russia and China in Central Asia, particularly from a military and security point of view. It will assess where their interests intersect, converge, and potentially clash, as well as explore policy implications for the United States and its allies. This 90 minute workshop will open with presentations, and then moderated discussion and Q&A with the following experts: The view from Russia - Marlene Laruelle, George Washington University The view from China - Niva Yau Tsz Yan, OSCE Academy Bishkek The view from Central Asia - Temur Umarov, Carnegie Moscow
For the past few years, China has been slowly increasing its military footprint in Central Asia. This is making Russia ill-at-ease and circumspect of Beijing's intentions. The workshop will explore the current and future state of affairs in the relationship between Russia and China in Central Asia, particularly from a military and security point of view. It will assess where their interests intersect, converge, and potentially clash, as well as explore policy implications for the United States and its allies. This 90 minute workshop will open with presentations, and then moderated discussion and Q&A with the following experts:
Biographies
Moderator: Mathieu BoulègueResearch Fellow, Russia and Eurasia ProgrammeChatham House
Before joining Chatham House, Mathieu was a partner at the risk management and strategic research consultancy AESMA, where he worked as director of Eurasian affairs.
In his research, Mathieu focuses particularly on Eurasian security and defence issues as well as on Russia’s domestic and foreign policy. Having trained as a policy and security analyst in the field of post-Soviet affairs, Mathieu regularly publishes articles and papers on Eurasian security & foreign policy questions. He is also a frequent invited speaker at conferences and events around the world.
He graduated from Sciences Po Toulouse in France and King’s College London (M.A. International Conflict Studies).
Panelist: Marlene LaruelleDirector, Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian StudiesDirector, Central Asia Program; Co-Director, PONARS-EurasiaResearch Professor of International Affairs
Marlene Laruelle is Research Professor of International Affairs and Director of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University. She has been co-PI on several NSF-funded grants on Arctic Urban Sustainability. Her research is based on yearly fieldwork conducted in Russia’s main Arctic cities: Murmansk and the surrounding Kola Peninsula mining cities, Arkhangelsk, Severodvinsk, Naryan Mar, Vorkuta, Salekhard, Norilsk, Dudinka, Yakutsk, and Mirnyi. She is the author of Russia’s Strategies in the Arctic and the Future of the Far North (M.E. Sharpe, 2013), ed. New Mobilities and Social Changes in Russia’s Arctic Regions (Routledge, 2016), and "Russia's Arctic Policy: A Power Strategy and Its Limits," Russie.Nei.Visions, No. 117, Ifri, March 2020.
Panelist: Temur UmarovConsultant, Moscow Carnegie Centre
Temur Umarov is an expert on China and Central Asia, and a consultant at Carnegie Moscow Center. He is an alumnus of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Young Ambassadors and the Carnegie Central Asian Futures programs. Temur holds a BA in China Studies from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), and an MA in International Relations from Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).
Panelist: Yau (Niva) Tsz YanResearcher, OSCE Academy, Bishkek
Niva Yau is a resident researcher at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek and a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia. Her works focuses on China’s foreign policy and trade in the western periphery, including Central Asia and Afghanistan. Originally from Hong Kong, Ms Yau has been based in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan since 2018, and has recently been awarded the Albert Otto Hirschman prize for best political economy writing in 2020 by The Washington Post.