Kazakhstan's Priorities for the OSCE Chairmanship

The roundtable is part of the CSIS-IND initiative revolving around Kazakhstan’s 2010 OSCE chairmanship. Please find the roundtable agenda and summary below.

Roundtable Agenda

12:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Lunch and Opening Remarks
Janusz Bugajski, CSIS

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Speaker:
Ambassador Kairat Abdrakhmanov,
Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the OSCE

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Panel Discussion
Julie Finley, Former U.S. Ambassador to OSCE
Martha Brill Olcott, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Edward Chow, Energy and National Security Program, CSIS
Jon Chicky, National Defense University

Event Summary - Kazakhstan’s Priorities for the OSCE Chairmanship

On 10 September 2009, the New European Democracies Program at CSIS, together with the Institute for New Democracies (IND), held a roundtable in Washington D.C. focused on Kazakhstan’s 2010 OSCE chairmanship. The key speaker was Ambassador Kairat Abdrakhmanov, the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the OSCE. Panelists included Erlan Idrissov, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United States, Julie Finley, former U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE, Martha Brill Olcott, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Edward Chow, Energy and National Security Program at CSIS, and Jon Chicky, National Defense University.

The discussion, led by Ambassador Abdrakhmanov, was focused on the initiatives that Kazakhstan plans to pursue during its OSCE chairmanship in each of the three OSCE dimensions – security, economy, and human rights. Ambassador Abdrakhmanov affirmed that the country would do everything it needed to in order to provide effective OSCE leadership and offer a platform for open dialogue with participating states and other members of the international community. The roundtable also debated Kazakhstan’s judicial system, given the recent trial and sentencing of a human rights activist for vehicular manslaughter and the criticism this has elicited in Washington. A full transcript of the roundtable will be available online shortly.

The roundtable, moderated by the Director of the New European Democracies Project, Janusz Bugajski, was attended by representatives from the U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security, officials from several embassies, NGO and think tank activists, business representatives, academics, and members of the mass media.