Monday, 15 June 2020 00:00

e-CAMCA Week 2020

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In lieu of our in-person annual gathering, the CAMCA Regional Forum organizers  are hosting a virtual e-CAMCA Week.

From June 15th-19th we will be hosting a daily live speaker session or panel, as well as releasing a variety of original content and helpful resources, for our CAMCA Forum community. We’ve pulled together a terrific collection of experts from across sectors, including members of the CAMCA Network, that will be delivering the latest on what you need to know about the region during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.  

Live video events will take place at 10 AM EST daily from June 16th-19th .

TUNE IN HERE  to our Facebook page for live video events (full agenda below) and

SUBSCRIBE BELOW to receive the aforementioned release

VIEW THE FULL AGENDA DETAILS HERE

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E-CAMCA WEEK PUBLICATIONS

The Value of CAMCA 

A joint statement on the value of the CAMCA Regional Forum by three distinguished regional representatives: Amb. Tedo Japaridze, Sen. Sodyq Safoev and Amb. Hafiz Pashayev

Welcome Letter

Letter from Secretary Donald Rumsfeld

 and Dr. S  Frederick Starr for

e-CAMCA Week 2020 participants

Meet CAMCA Entrepreneurs

View features of some successful regional entrepreneurs from our CAMCA Network

"Caucasus & Central Asia Post COVID-19" Series- Volume I

The Strasbourg Policy Centre's Series brings together statesmen and scholars that reflect on how the current pandemic affects the economy and power distribution in the region bridging the Atlantic and the Pacific economies

Digital Transformation in the CAMCA Region

A jointly authored article by two CAMCA Network members - Mariam Lashkhi, Deputy Chairperson of Georgia’s Innovation & Technology Agency, and Talant Sultanov, Co-Founder of the Internet Society-Kyrgyz Chapter

Post COVID-19: Challeges & Opportunities for the Region

A comprehensive collection of brief commentaries on the short and long-term impacts – economic, political and social – of the COVID-19 pandemic on the CAMCA region.  Contributors to this unique publication include more than 20 experts and professionals from over 10 countries representing think tanks, business, academia, government and more.  Read these wide-ranging perspectives, including insights directly from the region, curated for our CAMCA Forum community.

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Published in Forums & Events

What Else is Happening in Afghanistan?

Official studies have turned up many serious problems in the expenditure of American aid to Afghanistan. However, these reports should not be equated with the progress, or lack of progress, of the economy and society of Afghanistan as a whole. On the one hand, some 82% of American assistance has been focused on security, as opposed to economic and social development. On the other hand, many other donors, and initiatives by Afghanis themselves, have contributed to the development of Afghanistan's economic and social life.  The speaker will discuss the briefing paper, entitled "How is Afghanistan Really Doing".  The purpose of the paper is not to argue with the official studies but to suggest that Afghan society has in fact made important progress in many areas over the years since 9/11.  If one takes that progress into account, it will affect how one views Afghanistan's emerging place in the world and the next phase of America's relationship with that country . 

Speaker: Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at AFPC

Moderator: Svante Cornell, Director, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at AFPC

Where: American Foreign Policy Council: 509 C Street NE, Washington, DC 20002

When: Wednesday, March 11, 2020 from 2:00 - 3:45 pm

Scroll down to watch the event.

Published in Forums & Events

Are We Getting Closer to Peace in Afghanistan?

In the claustrophobic atmosphere of Kabul today, uncertainty reigns on every side: security, politics, business, and finance. Afghanistan is a big country, and Afghan society is rapidly changing. Are there compensating factors that we are ignoring and, if so, what are they? 

Speaker: Mr. Shoaib Rahim, Senior Adviser, Afghanistan's State Ministry for Peace

Moderator: S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at AFPC

Where: American Foreign Policy Council: 509 C Street NE, Washington, DC 20002

When: Tuesday, January 21, 2020 from 2:00 - 4:00 pm, 

RSVP: Click HERE to register

Published in Forums & Events

 CACI Forum with the Rumsfeld Fellows - Spring 2019

The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute presents this Spring's team of Rumsfeld Fellows, emerging leaders from the Caucasus, Afghanistan, Mongolia, and Central Asia - which the alumni themselves have dubbed the 'CAMCA Region.' 

The region is facing critical questions: are the CAMCA countries globally competitive for investors? What is being done to remove the impediments? 

At this Forum Rumsfeld Fellows will introduce an idea of the Investment Harbor, as a mechanism to facilitate investments, trade and greater regional and global connectivity of the CAMCA countries. 

Spring 2019 Rumsfeld Fellows include:

Mr. Assadullah Zamir (Afghanistan), CEO and Partner of Sabzwar Agribusiness and Food Services and Founder of Abreshum Venture. 

Mr. Fuad Karimov (Azerbaijan), Director of Professional Support Services LLC. 

Mr. Giorgi Arveladze (Georgia), 36, is the Founder and Managing Partner of Ubique, a Tbilisi based real estate development firm. 

Ms. Mariam Lashkhi (Georgia), Deputy Chairperson at Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA). 

Dr. Almazbek Beishenaliev (Kyrgyzstan), Director of the Regional Institute of Central Asia in Bishkek. 

Ms. Jenny Jenish kyzy (Kyrgyzstan), Chairperson of the Association of Social Entrepreneurs (ASE) of Kyrgyzstan and Founder “New Schools Foundation” and “J-Invest Consulting” firm.

Mr. Olzhas Khudaibergenov (Kazakhstan), Founder and Senior Partner at the Center for Strategic Initiatives LLP (CSI). 

Mr. Nurtas Janibekov (Kazakhstan), Adviser to the Governor of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). 

Ms. Chimguundari Navaan-Yunden (Mongolia), Ambassador-at- Large and Director of the Investment Research Center at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Mongolia. 

Ms. Nargis Esufbekova (Tajikistan), Head of Secretariat of the Development Coordination Council (DCC) in Tajikistan 

Ms. Maral Ilyasova (Turkmenistan), appraisement expert at the Appraisal Company “Turkmen Expert” ES. 

Mr. Bokhodir Ayupov (Uzbekistan), Consultant at the Technopark of Software Development and IT. 

Moderator: S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at AFPC

 

Where: Middle East Institute: 1319 18th Street NW, 20036

When: Thursday, May 2, 2019 from 12:30 - 2:00 pm, 

RSVP: Click HERE to register

Published in Forums & Events

The Xinjiang Crisis and the Rest of Central Asia: Impacts and Responses

The Uyghurs of Xinjiang constitute one of the oldest Turkic peoples and the first to be urbanized and to develop a written language and rich intellectual life. As such they are, in a historic and cultural sense, part of Central Asia. The forum discussed how the ongoing crisis in Xinjiang affected Uyghurs, the Central Asian countries, and how Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan responded?

Speakers: 

Sean R. Roberts, Associate Professor, George Washington University 

James Clad, Director, Asian Security Program, American Foreign Policy Council

Ilshat Hassan, President, Uyghur American Association

Moderator: S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at AFPC

 

Where: Middle East Institute: 1319 18th Street NW, 20036

When: Tuesday, March 26, 2019 from 12:00 - 2:00 pm, 

Scroll Down for the Full Recording

Published in Forums & Events

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News

  • Read CACI Chairman S. Frederick Starr's recent interview on the resurgence of Imperial Russia with The American Purpose
    Tuesday, 23 May 2023 00:00

    Why Russians Support the War: Jeffrey Gedmin interviews S. Frederick Starr on the resurgence of Imperial Russia.

    The American Purpose, May 23, 2023

    Jeffrey Gedmin: Do we have a Putin problem or a Russia problem today?

    S. Frederick Starr: We have a Putin problem because we have a Russia problem. Bluntly, the mass of Russians are passive and easily manipulated—down to the moment they aren’t. Two decades ago they made a deal with Vladimir Putin, as they have done with many of his predecessors: You give us a basic income, prospects for a better future, and a country we can take pride in, and we will give you a free hand. This is the same formula for autocracy that prevailed in Soviet times, and, before that, under the czars. The difference is that this time Russia’s leader—Putin—and his entourage have adopted a bizarre and dangerous ideology, “Eurasianism,” that empowers them to expand Russian power at will over the entire former territory of the USSR and even beyond. It is a grand and awful vision that puffs up ruler and ruled alike.

    What do most Russians think of this deal? It leaves them bereft of the normal rights of citizenship but free from its day-to-day responsibilities. So instead of debating, voting, and demonstrating, Russians store up their frustrations and then release them in elemental, often destructive, and usually futile acts of rebellion. This “Russia problem” leaves the prospect of change in Russia today in the hands of alienated members of Putin’s immediate entourage, many of whom share his vision of Russia’s destiny and are anyway subject to Putin’s ample levers for control. Thus, our “Putin problem” arises from our “Russia problem.”

    Click to continue reading...

  • CACI director Svante Cornell's interviewed on the 'John Batchelor Show' podcast regarding Turkey's 2023 presidential election
    Friday, 19 May 2023 00:00

    Listen to CACI director Svante Cornell's recent interview on the 'John Batchelor Show' podcast regarding Turkey's 2023 presidential election. Click here!

  • New Article Series on Changing Geopolitics of Central Asia and the Caucasus
    Wednesday, 24 November 2021 11:53

    Eurasia

  • CACI Initiative on Religion and the Secular State in Central Asia and the Caucasus
    Sunday, 24 January 2021 13:53

    In 2016, the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program launched an initiative on documenting the interrelationship of religion and the secular state in the region. This initiative departed from the fact that little systematic reserch had been undertaken on the subject thus far. While there was and remains much commentary and criticism of religious policy in the region, there was no comprehensive analysis available on the interrelationship of religion and the state in any regional state, let alone the region as a whole. The result of this initiative has been the publication of six Silk Road Papers studying the matter in regional states, with more to come. In addition, work is ongoing on a volume putting the regional situation in the context of the Muslim world as a whole.

     

    Case Studies

    Each study below can be freely downloaded in PDF format.

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    Azerbaijan's Formula: Secular Governance and Civil Nationhood
    By Svante E. Cornell, Halil Karaveli, and Boris Ajeganov
    November 2016   




    2018-04-Kazakhstan-SecularismReligion and the Secular State in Kazakhstan
    By Svante E. Cornell, S. Frederick Starr and Julian Tucker
    April 2018

     

     

     

    1806-UZ-coverReligion and the Secular State in Uzbekistan
    Svante E. Cornell and Jacob Zenn
    June 2018

     

     

     

    2006-Engvall-coverReligion and the Secular State in Kyrgyzstan
    Johan Engvall
    June 2020

     Event video online

     

    2006-Clement-coverReligion and the Secular State in Turkmenistan
    Victoria Clement
    June 2020

    Event video online

     

     

     

    Articles and Analyses

    Svante E. Cornell, "Religion and the State in Central Asia," in Ilan Berman, ed., Wars of Ideas: Theology, Interpretation and Power in the Muslim World, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2021.

    Svante E. Cornell, "Central Asia: Where Did Islamic Radicalization Go?" in Religion, Conflict and Stability in the Former Soviet Union, eds. Katya Migacheva and Bryan Frederick, Arlington, VA: RAND Corporation, 2018.