Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb

Abstract: When the Soviet Union collapsed, Kazakhstan was left with more than a thousand nuclear warheads, tons of nuclear material, and sensitive nuclear infrastructure. In this talk, Dr. Kassenova will explain why Kazakhstan made a strategic decision to give up its nuclear inheritance, and how it implemented it. Based on her recently released book Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb, Dr. Kassenova will share some highlights of the denuclearization work carried out in Kazakhstan, in which U.S. scientists and technical experts played a key role.

Bio: Dr. Togzhan Kassenova is a Washington, DC-based senior fellow with the Project on International Security, Commerce, and Economic Statecraft (PISCES) at the Center for Policy Research, SUNY-Albany, and a nonresident fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She is an expert on nuclear politics, WMD nonproliferation, strategic trade control, sanctions implementation, and financial crime prevention. She currently works on issues related to proliferation financing, exploring ways to minimize access of proliferators to the global financial system. Kassenova holds a Ph.D. in Politics from the University of Leeds (UK) and is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS). From 2011 to 2015, Kassenova served on the UN Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters. She holds a Ph.D. in Politics.