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United States military aid to Central Asia has substantially increased over the past 10 years, and has increasingly gone to equipping Central Asian Special Forces units. It appears that the primary motive for such assistance is to “buy” access to regional governments and militaries, whose cooperation is necessary for the United States to prosecute the war in Afghanistan, rather than to improve defense institutions and militaries. As a result, relations between the United States and Central Asian countries have become heavily securitized, with political, economic, and other issues relegated to supporting roles.
Please join the Open Society Foundations’ Washington, D.C., Office for a discussion with Joshua Kucera, who will speak about his recently released paper “U.S. Military Aid to Central Asia: Who Benefits?” and discuss recommendations for the United States to help ensure that the pursuit of its objectives in Afghanistan does not contribute to destabilizing trends in Central Asia. Lynne Tracy, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the State Department, will join the discussion. Jeff Goldstein, Senior Policy Analyst at Open Society Foundations will moderate.
For more information, visit the Open Society Foundations' website.
Tuesday, October 16
12:30-2:00 pm
Open Society Institute
1730 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, 7th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20006