2020 Reports

Key Note Speech: Civil Society and Confidence Building in Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe: Best Practices and Outstanding Needs

Cooley, Alexander A.

This paper, delivered as the Keynote address to the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF) 2020 Annual Conference on "Civil Society and Confidence Building in Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe: Best Practices and Outstanding Needs." The paper overviews the daunting challenges that civil society in Central Asia presently confronts and highlights four recent negatives trends: the stigmatization of NGOs by governments following the Color Revolutions; widespread perceptions of Western regional withdrawal and the ascendancy of Russia and China; the rise of illiberal conflict resolution ideas and practices; and the growing transnational repression of Central Asian security services.