There is this bloom of intellectual thought – expert of American Caspian Policy Center on Astana Think Tank Forum
Dr. Eric Rudenshiold, Senior Fellow for Caspian Affairs at Caspian Policy Center (CPC, USA), shared his opinion with the Kazinform News Agency correspondent about Astana Think Tank Forum.
The President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev spoke at the plenary session of the Astana Think Tank Forum. Dr. Eric Rudenshiold noted the key themes of President Tokayev’s speech:
“I was very excited to listen to him because he recognized the changes that are happening. Obviously, he is the author of many of these changes, but his description of the region evolving from competition to cooperation, I believe, is the secret of how this region has become a real middle power force. That is something quite special,” says Rudenshiold.
He also noted that the current forum is seeing open policy discussions with the participation of local think tanks, which is a significant achievement.
“I lived in Kazakhstan a long time ago. I’ve worked in this region for many years. I’ve worked for international organizations, traveled in and out. But what you see happening now at a forum like this, where local think tanks and actual policies are being openly discussed, is remarkable. You didn’t have that 10 years ago. You certainly didn’t have it 20 years ago. And I guarantee you it didn’t happen 30 years ago. For me, that is a huge takeaway. There is this bloom of intellectual thought, which we see here at this conference. And we see the government celebrating that. That’s new. It’s important. And I think it bodes well for the future of the region,” notes Senior Fellow for Caspian Affairs at CPC.
