On 26 October 2018 in Astana, the OSCE Programme Office in Astana jointly with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Kazakhstan Council on International Relations, with support from the Institute of Diplomacy under the Academy of Public Administration and the Public Opinion Research Institute co-organized an international conference entitled “New Challenges and Approaches to Regional and Global Security in Central Asia”.

The purpose of the conference is to contribute to the current discussion on the assessment of threats and challenges in Central Asia. The main sessions were focused on the following topics:
- the role of international and regional organizations and ways to promote their effectiveness in the region;
- violent extremism and radicalization, which lead to terrorism among young people and ways to prevent it;
- counteracting the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes;
- the return of persons involved in terrorist activities abroad, and the possibility of their integration back into social life.

The conference was divided into 4 sessions, attended by representatives from academia, civil society, government and think tanks, as well as international experts and organizations.

The event is part of the OSCE’s work in promoting dialogue and regional cooperation in its integrated approach to security, as well as to involve experts in finding new solutions to respond to contemporary threats and challenges.

As a result of the conference in 2019, the OSCE Program Office in Nur-Sultan released a collection of materials, which included reports from Kazakhstani and foreign participants of the conference. The edition was published in Russian and English.