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CIAO DATE: 11/98
Future Prospects for the Eurasian Corridor: A series of round-table discussions
April 23, 1998
Strengthening Democratic Institutions Project
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Sponsored by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs’ Strengthening Democratic Institutions project, the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs’ Fellows Program, and the Conflict Management Group.
Table of Contents
Session 1: Development and General Significance of the Eurasian Corridor
Session 2: Impact of the Corridor on Regional Security
Session 3: Impact of the Corridor on Democratization of States
Session 4: Impact of the Corridor on State and Regional Economic Development
Preface
The attached document represents the proceedings from a one-day conference on the “Eurasian Corridor,” which was co-hosted by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affair’s Strengthening Democratic Institutions Project, the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and the Conflict Management Group, on Thursday, April 23, 1998 at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
The Eurasian transportation corridor, also known as the “new silk road,” was developed in 1993 by the three South Caucasus states of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and the five Central Asian states of Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The Eurasian corridor is supported by the TraCECA project of the European Union and is now a major alternative route for the transportation of goods and people from Asia to Europe.
The Eurasia region as a whole is rapidly becoming one of global geostrategic significance. Estimates of as much as 200 billion barrels of oil reserves in the Caspian Sea have turned the spotlight on Central Asia and the Caucasus since the conclusion of the first major international contract for oil exploration and production in September 1994. As a result of the outbreak of conflicts in the Caucasus in the late 1980s, Russia’s communication routes with the region have been severed and its economic influence has declined, but cross-border trade with Turkey and Iran, and commercial ties between the states of Central Asia, the Caucasus, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, and Western countries have all steadily increased. The United States political and business communities have also demonstrated growing interest and involvement. Regional integration, based on trade and the transport of oil, and new alliances, suggests the eventual revival of Central Asia and the Caucasus as the crossroads between East and West.
Due to its growing international significance, the development of the Eurasian Corridor is being followed personally by the presidents of all the states involved. In this context, the conference at Harvard was conceived of by Rusudan Gorgiladze, Advisor to President Eduard Shevardnadze of Georgia, and a Fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs for 1997–1998.
The conference considered the implications of this new Eurasian transport and communication corridor for the economic development, consolidation of democracy, and security of the states of Central Asia and the Caucasus. It was attended by more than 90 experts on the region, and took the format of four panel sessions, with short presentations by representatives from regional states, the US government, and the academic and business communities. The presentations were followed by a round-table discussion with participants on the theme of each session.
This report has been produced and edited by the Strengthening Democratic Institutions Project under the auspices of a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York. Views expressed by individuals represent their own professional judgments and are not offered on behalf of any governments or other institutions.
June 1998
Maps
Map 1: The Eurasian Transport Corridor—European Union TraCECA Route [temporarily unavailable]
Map 2: Black Sea [temporarily unavailable]
Map 4: Central Asia [temporarily unavailable]
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