Our Russian, Eurasian and Polish Studies program (REPS) would love to see you at this exciting talk by David Abramson in Herter 601 on Tuesday, October 15, 2019, 5:30-7PM.

Putin initiated his pivot to Asia policy even before the West began imposing sanctions on Russia in response to its annexation of Crimea and invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014.  However, China's domination of that pivot, due to its economic power, has compelled Moscow to develop a surprisingly close relationship with Beijing. How much closer is this burgeoning partnership likely to get and how much of a threat does it pose to U.S. interests?

Dr. David Abramson is Senior Analyst for Russia-Asia relations for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Office of Analysis for Russia and Eurasia.  He previously worked for many years as a Central Asia analyst, focusing primarily on Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Islamic trends in Eurasia. During 2001-2005, Dr. Abramson spent four years in the Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom, monitoring and promoting religious freedom in the Middle East as an element of U.S. foreign policy, advising on outreach to the Muslim world, and engaging with Muslim-American communities.  Dr. Abramson also teaches courses on Central Asia at Georgetown University and has published on Islam, national identity, and foreign assistance in Central Asia, and on anthropologists working on national security.  He received his doctorate in Cultural Anthropology from Indiana University where he specialized in community and conflict in post-Soviet Uzbekistan.