EVENT: Kennan Institute Caucasus Railroads and Pipelines Conference April 2, 9:30AM-2PM

From: “Ariel Cohen” <Ariel.Cohen@heritage.org>
Subject: INVITATION: Kennan Institute Caucasus Railroads and Pipelines Conference April 2, 9:30AM-2PM
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2013

Dear Friends:

I am honored to invite you to the following event, at which I co-chair a panel. If you do not live in the Washington, D.C. area, our apologies. Feel free to forward to your friends in the area who may have an interest in the subject or otherwise distribute.

Please RSVP to Joe Dresen as noted below. Please DO NOT RSVP to this e-mail.

Many thanks,
Ariel Cohen

Conference Announcement
Connecting the Caucasus with the World: Railways & Pipelines
Cosponsored by the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute and the
Institute for the Analysis of Global Security

The Woodrow Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute and the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security are pleased to announce the conference “Connecting the Caucasus with the World: Railways & Pipelines.” The event will take place on Tuesday, April 2, 2013 from 9:30 to 2:00 PM (luncheon included) at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC. The event is open to the public and the media.

The conference is especially timely as the second Obama administration is in the process of formulating its policy and strategy towards the nations of the Caucasus while relations with Russia are increasingly tense, and as the United States and NATO withdraw from Afghanistan.

Can the United States and NATO allies, including Turkey, promote greater regional integration through developing the Southern Corridor: infrastructure projects such as pipelines and rail? What lessons can be drawn from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, in operation since 2005? How do companies and governments best implement these projects in light of the continued territorial dispute between Georgia and Russia and escalating tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan? What role is there for the European Union? These important issues and others will be addressed at this conference.

Connecting the Caucasus with the World: Railways & Pipelines
Cosponsored by the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute and the
Institute for the Analysis of Global Security
Date: Tuesday, April 2, 2013
9:30 to to 2:00 PM (luncheon included)
Location: Woodrow Wilson Center
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
www.wilsoncenter.org/directions

RSVP: This meeting is open to the public by reservation. Please RSVP to Joseph Dresen by email to (joseph.dresen@wilsoncenter.org).

Please bring an identification card with a photograph (e.g. driver’s license, work ID, or university ID) as part of the building’s security procedures.

Connecting the Caucasus with the World: Railways & Pipelines
Cosponsored by the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute and the
Institute for the Analysis of Global Security
Conference Agenda:
9.00 Registration
9.30 Opening Remarks
9.40 Keynote Address: TBD
9.55-11.10 Panel One: “Iron Silk Road: Connecting Europe and Asia”
Moderator: William Pomeranz, Acting Director, Kennan Institute
Rich Herold, Executive Counsel, Global Government Affairs and Policy, GE Transport
Justin Friedman, Director, Office of Caucasus Affairs and Regional Conflicts (EUR/CARC), U.S. Department of State (invited)
David Rakviashvili, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Georgia

11.30-12.45 Panel Two: “Pipeline Politics: Integration, Cooperation, & Diversification”
Moderator: Ariel Cohen, Senior Research Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Policy, Heritage Foundation
James J. Coyle, Director, Center for Global Education, Chapman University
David Merkel, Non-resident Senior Fellow, Center for Transatlantic Relations, SAIS, JHU
Nargiz Gurbanova, Deputy Chief of Mission/Economic Counselor, Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan

12.45-2:00 Luncheon
Lunch Address:
Ambassador Khazar Ibrahim, Head of the Mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan to NATO
Concluding Comments