NIPS-ORSAM Joint Webinar “Russia-Ukraine War: Future of Eurasian Geopolitics”

Islamabad, October 27 – The NUST Institute of Policy Studies (NIPS) held an international webinar on the Russia-Ukraine War and its implications for the future of Eurasian geopolitics on Thursday, October 27, 2022, with the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (ORSAM), a leading Turkish think tank. The webinar was attended by senior security analysts, veteran diplomats, experts, and students from Pakistan and Turkey.
The first keynote speaker, Prof. Ahmet Uysal, Director, ORSAM, talked about the impact of the ongoing conflict on the Middle East. He identified irreconcilable positions of great powers as one of the main causes of the current war. He advised caution, internal cohesion, and domestic development as means to deal with different likely fallout scenarios of the conflict. He also stressed the importance of greater Pakistan-Turkey cooperation for peace and progress.
The second keynote speaker, Ambassador (Retired) Javid Hussain, gave a detailed historical background of the conflict. He stated that the failure of the United States, NATO, and Russia to come to a shared understanding about regional security, and disregard of the assurances given to Russia in the aftermath of the Cold War produced the set of conditions that eventually culminated in the current conflict. He pointed out this, however, did not justify aggression, and that it was the duty of every member of the United Nations to respect its Charter in letter and spirit. He remarked that all sides seemed to be at some distance from its goals at the moment.
The keynote addresses were followed by a highly interactive discussion session. In his closing remarks, Dr. Ashfaque Hasan Khan, Principal, NUST School of Social Sciences and Humanities, and Director General NIPS, talked briefly about Living under Hybrid War (2002), the book that he had recently edited. He used interesting insights from the paradigm of hybrid warfare to make sense of the Russia-Ukraine war. He urged the participants to see things broadly in an interconnected manner for better understanding. The webinar was moderated by Director NIPS, Mr. Amir Yaqub.