The Middle Corridor: Europe's Strategic Lifeline Through the South Caucasus | Panel

Описание: Europe’s supply chains, economic connectivity, security architecture, and geopolitical autonomy increasingly hinge on a narrow but contested stretch of geography. As the Middle Corridor gains prominence, the power dynamics in the South Caucasus and Central Asia are being transformed. This panel brings together diplomatic, economic, and security expertise to unpack how competing interests and overlapping dynamics are redefining the Middle Corridor's strategic role and why the EU and UK cannot afford to treat it as peripheral. Framed through both on-the-ground realities and high-level strategic thinking, the discussion explores what sustained engagement must look like if Europe is to secure its interests along this emerging lifeline.

Panel speakers:
-James Sharp, former UK Ambassador to Azerbaijan (2019-2022), Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan (2003-05)
-Natia Seskuria, Associate Fellow in International Security at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Founder and Executive Director of the Regional Institute for Security Studies (RISS) in Tbilisi, Visiting Fellow at the Davis Center at Harvard University
-Arzu Abbasova, Research Analyst on Financial Crime and Security at RUSI, Head of Research on financial inclusion at the RUSI Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI

Moderator:
-Victor Topouria, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Topouria Group, International Communications Manager at Geocase

Recorded at Goodenough College on February 25, 2026.

To learn more about Topouria Group, visit www.topouria.group