On January 31, the Atlantic Council hosted a conference entitled “Twenty Years of Kazakhstan Independence and US-Kazakhstan Relations” at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington, DC. 

In the Patriciu Eurasia Center issue brief "Kazakhstan and the United States: Twenty Years of Ambiguous Partnership," Sean R. Roberts, an associate professor of practice in international affairs and director of the International Development Studies Program at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, examines how the US-Kazakhstan relationship has evolved over three critical periods in the country's development.

In the Patriciu Eurasia Center issue brief "Kazakhstan's Energy Sector Since Independence: Two Decades of Growth and Challenges Ahead?", Katherine Hardin, senior director for Russian and Caspian Energy Research at IHS CERA, looks at the key stages in Kazakhstan's emergence as a major energy producer while analyzing the challenges ahead as oil and gas production increa

In the Patriciu Eurasia Center issue brief "The Path Towards Kazakhstan's Nuclear Non-Proliferation Policy: Convergence of US-Kazakh Interests," Douglas Townsend, a UK-based business consultant and former Australian diplomat with extensive experience in the Eurasia region, explores opportunities for bilateral cooperation between the US and Kazakhstan on issues of nuclear non-proliferation.

From William J. Broad, the New York Times:  The 32 nations with materials that can fuel atom bombs are typically mum on security, which looks to the public like a closed world of barbed wire and armed guards. Behind the scenes, atomic insiders have long told horror stories of risky practices and security flaws

From Rafaello Pantucci and Alexandros Peterson, the International Herald Tribune:  Just before his visit to Beijing, [Russian Prime Minister Vladimir] Putin had announced a desire to form a new Eurasian Union that would tie a number of former Soviet states back

On September 22, the Atlantic Council held an off-the-record discussion with John Ordway, who just completed nine months as U.S. Chargé d'Affaires in Kazakhstan that followed his earlier tenure as American ambassador there in 2004-2008 and a long U.S. Foreign Service career that included assignments in Armenia, Russia and the Soviet Union.

As NATO draws down troops from Afghan soil, the continued fight in this beleaguered country and a possible resurgence of the Taliban pose three acute problems to Eurasian security: demographic decline, regional instability, and international terrorism. To cope with these challenges to peace in Eurasia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization should take a more comprehensive role in stabilizing Afghanistan.