JHU SAIS to Host Forum on Transport and Trade in Greater Central Asia

The Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) will host a forum, "The New Silk Roads: Transport and Trade in the Greater Central Asia" on Wednesday, 07/18 at 5:30 p.m. (a reception will precede the forum at 5 p.m.)

The forum celebrates the launch of The New Silk Roads: Transport and Trade in the Greater Central Asia, a book edited by S. Frederick Starr, chairman of the SAIS Central Asia-Caucasus Institute (CACI).

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, China's decision to open trade across its western border and the gradual return of Afghanistan to the community of nations, continental trade spanning the entire Eurasian land mass is again becoming possible. The New Silk Roads, published by CACI's Silk Road Studies Program, documents this possibility. Eminent scholars from 16 countries review the state of the links of transport and trade that are bringing about this fundamental change on the world's largest continent.

Several of the book's contributors will participate in a panel discussion about their chapters:

• S. Frederick Starr (overview)
• Masood Aziz (Afghanistan), councilor at the Afghanistan Embassy in Washington, D.C.
• Aftab Kazi (Pakistan), professor of international and comparative politics at American University in Bishkek
• Abbas Maleki (Iran), director general of the Institute for Caspian Studies in Tehran
• Niklas Norling (China), project director of the Silk Roads Studies Program
• Taleh Ziyadov (Azerbaijan), deputy executive director of the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce

Representatives from Central Asia trade ministries visiting Washington, D.C., for the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Conference also are expected to provide brief remarks (participants TBA).

The event, free and open to the public, will be held in Kenney Auditorium located on the first floor of the school's Nitze Building, 1740 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. Members of the public should RSVP to CACI at [email protected] or 202.663.7721.

Journalists 05/request a review copy of The New Silk Roads through the SAIS Public Affairs Office.

Media who want to cover the event must contact Felisa Neuringer Klubes in the SAIS Public Affairs Office at 202.663.5626 or [email protected].