Upcoming 2026 – Togzhan Kassenova

Register for the 2026 Herbert J Ellison Lecture | Dr. Togzhan Kassenova on Nuclear Futures in Central Asia: Opportunities and Risks

Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, 5:30 – 7 p.m, HUB 250

Central Asia stands at a crossroads where the promise of nuclear energy collides with the weight of its history and geopolitics. This talk will examine how the region’s pursuit of nuclear power can drive clean growth, enhance energy independence, and advance decarbonization goals in a rapidly warming world while also confronting significant challenges, including construction delays, nuclear safety and security risks,  waste management, corruption, and geopolitical pressures.

Dr. Togzhan Kassenova is a senior fellow at the Project on International Security, Commerce, and Economic Statecraft (PISCES) at the Center for Policy Research, University at Albany, and a visiting professor at the Institute of International Relations (IRI), University of São Paulo. She is an expert on nuclear politics, WMD nonproliferation, strategic trade controls, and financial crime prevention. She currently works on issues related to proliferation financing controls, exploring ways to minimize proliferators’ access to the global financial system. Kassenova holds a Ph.D. in Politics from the University of Leeds. From 2011 to 2015, Kassenova served on the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters. She is a member of the UN Independent Scientific Panel on the Effects of Nuclear War.

Kassenova is the author of the award-winning Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb (Stanford University Press, 2022).