Shaping Eurasia: What Convergence between China's New Silk Road and the Eurasian Union?
Practical information
As geo-strategic and geo-economic balances evolve across the Eurasian continent, two initiatives – the Chinese-led “Silk Road Economic Belt” and the Eurasian Economic Union – promise to shape the region’s emerging geo-political landscape.
While agreements have been made at the political level to highlight the complementarities of these two strategies, areas of tension lie beneath the surface. In an effort to assess their ability to impact change at regional and global levels, this workshop will flesh out the details of both projects, analyze their underlying assumptions, and discuss where they converge and where they compete.
09:00 – 09:15 Welcoming remarks - Tatiana KASTOUEVA-JEAN, Head, Russia/NIS Center, Ifri
09:15 – 10:30 OBOR and the Eurasian Union: Interests and strategies of key actors
- Timofei BORDATCHEV, Director, Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies, National Research University–Higher School of Economics, Russia
- YANG Cheng, Associate Professor of International Relations, Deputy Director, Center for Russian Studies, School of Advanced International and Area Studies, East China Normal University
- Rakhim OSHAKBAYEV, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Silk Road Studies Program, Kazakhstan
- Nicu POPESCU, Senior Analyst, European Union Institute for Strategic Studies (EUISS)
Chair: Françoise NICOLAS, Director, Center for Asian Studies, Ifri
10:30-10:45 Coffee break
10:45 – 12:30 What complementarities, what competition?
- Roundtable discussion with speakers from first session, commented and moderated by
Bobo LO, Associate Research Fellow with Ifri’s Russia/NIS Center
12:30 - 13:30 Lunch (by invitation only)
Other events
The Future of Space Cooperation: Challenges and Opportunities in the Trump II Era
The policy orientations of the Trump II administration profoundly challenge the foundations of international cooperation in space science and exploration. This shift reflects a broader trend of strategic disengagement and weakening of multilateral mechanisms in the space domain.
Strategic Autonomy and Asia amid Rising Geoeconomic Competition
Amid growing strategic and geopolitical uncertainty, Europe is grappling with the notion of its strategic autonomy. For Europe’s partners in Asia, the concept is also becoming increasingly salient as the world enters an era of structural transformation.
France-Germany, The Engine Under Pressure
Faced with a profoundly disrupted strategic and economic environment, Franco-German cooperation is more than ever the central pillar of Europe's future. The war in Ukraine, energy and technological dependence, and uncertainty about the strength of the transatlantic ties require urgent deepening of European sovereignty, both in terms of defence and economic and industrial competitiveness.