The New Silk Road Initiative Post-2014: Challenges and Opportunities
The New Silk Road Initiative, originally envisioned in 2011, seeks to promote greater regional connectivity through improved trade and transit, the development of regional energy markets, strengthened customs and border operations, and deeper people-to-people and business relationships. What is the potential for this initiative, and what concrete steps have been taken? What are the challenges and opportunities, particularly against the backdrop of the recent foreign troop withdrawal from Afghanistan? And how can the New Silk Road Initiative help benefit an Afghanistan that faces major economic challenges?
Overview
The area encompassing South and Central Asia represents one of the least economically integrated regions in the world. The U.S. New Silk Road Initiative seeks to promote greater regional connectivity through improved trade and transit, the development of regional energy markets, strengthened customs and border operations, and deeper people-to-people and business relationships. The initiative aims to further economic development and bolster peace and stability in a volatile region. What is the potential for this initiative, and what concrete steps have been taken? What are the challenges and opportunities for Afghanistan and the broader region?
Keynote:
Nisha Desai Biswal assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, U.S. Department of State
Panelists:
S. Frederick Starr, chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and adjunct professor of European and Eurasian Studies, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies
Mara Burr, senior vice president, Albright Stonebridge Group, and former deputy assistant U.S. trade representative for South and Central Asian affairs
Jan H. Kalicki, public policy scholar and lead for global and regional energy issues, Woodrow Wilson Center
Moderator:
Michael Kugelman, senior associate for South Asia, Woodrow Wilson Center
Speakers
S. Frederick Starr
Jan H. Kalicki
Counselor for International Strategy, Chevron; Chairman, Eurasia Foundation
Mara Burr
Nisha Desai Biswal
Hosted By
Indo-Pacific Program
The Indo-Pacific Program promotes policy debate and intellectual discussions on US interests in the Asia-Pacific as well as political, economic, security, and social issues relating to the world’s most populous and economically dynamic region. Read more
Middle East Program
The Wilson Center’s Middle East Program serves as a crucial resource for the policymaking community and beyond, providing analyses and research that helps inform US foreign policymaking, stimulates public debate, and expands knowledge about issues in the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Read more
Kennan Institute
The Kennan Institute is the premier US center for advanced research on Russia and Eurasia and the oldest and largest regional program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Kennan Institute is committed to improving American understanding of Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the surrounding region though research and exchange. Read more
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