The capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan is hosting the seventh meeting of the Astana Club, an international discussion platform that brings together authoritative experts, including former heads of state and government, as well as heads of the world’s leading analytical centres.
The key mission of the Astana Club is analysing global trends and finding solutions to the most important problems affecting the world as a whole and the Greater Eurasia region in particular.
The event is organised by the Institute of World Economics and Politics (IWEP).
The main theme the experts of the Club’s VII meeting will focus on is “A New Formula for Peace: the World on the Verge of Transformation”. The choice of topic was driven by the need to develop approaches for creating a fundamentally new security architecture in Eurasia.
There are eight thematic sessions:
- “Cooling” World Economy: The Threat of Fragmentation and What to Do About It?”
- “Greater Central Asia: Afghanistan and the Future of the Region”
- “Sanctions: a Reality Check”
- “Middle East: What Lies Ahead for the Region?”
- “The Great Divide: The Era of “Blockalization”
- “When Titans Collide: the US-China Battle for Dominance of the World Order”
- “Time is Running Out: How the Global Climate Agenda is Falling Apart and How to Fix It”
- “AI Revolution: the End of the World as We Know It?”
Traditionally part of the Astana Club sessions are held under the Chatham House rules maintaining anonymity of expert opinions. This principle encourages frank and trusted professional conversation.
This year more than 40 speakers from the USA, China, Russia, Spain, Belgium, India, Turkey, South Korea, the UK, and other countries are taking part in the work of the Astana Club.
Some of the participants of the VII Astana Club meeting are:
- José Luis Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain (2004-2011), initiator of the UN “Alliance of Civilizations”.
- Yves Leterme, Global Coalition for Efficient Logistics (GCEL) Co-Chairman, OECD Deputy Secretary-General (2011-2014), former Prime Minister of Belgium.
- James Lindsay, Senior Vice President, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
- Evan Feigenbaum, Vice President at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State (2006-2009).
- Edward Luttwak, President of ENL Associates, Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
- Urban Rusnak, Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Secretary General of the Energy Charter Secretariat (2012-2021).
- Chung Rae Kwon, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Director of Ban Ki-moon Foundation, member of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
- Peter Frankopan, Professor of Global History at Oxford University, author of “The Silk Roads: A New History of the World” (2015).
- Yang Cheng, Executive Dean of Shanghai Academy of Global Governance and Area Studies (SAGGAS).
- Ariel Cohen, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Eurasia Centre, Director of the Energy, Growth, and Security Program (ITIC).
Since 2015 more than 200 speakers from 40 countries have taken part in the work of the Club.
Over the years, the Astana Club has gathered such well-known politicians, experts, and business leaders as José Manuel Barroso, Mohamed ElBaradei, Ahmet Davutoğlu, Václav Klaus, Hamid Karzai, George Friedman, Robert Kaplan, Jacob Frenkel and many others as the speakers and headliners of the sessions.
