Book, University of Pittsburgh Press, June 2016
Johan Engvall, The State as Investment Market: Kyrgyzstan in Comparative Perspective
Based on a detailed examination of Kyrgyzstan, Johan Engvall goes well beyond the case of this single country to elaborate a broad theory of economic corruption in developing post-Soviet states regionally—as a rational form of investment market for political elites. He reveals how would-be officials invest in offices to obtain access to income streams associated with those offices. Drawing on extensive fieldwork over an eight-year period, Engvall details how these systems work and the major implications this holds for political and economic development in the region. Often identified and criticized simply as obstacles to development by scholars, Engvall instead argues that these systems must be reinterpreted in the context of a standardized and entrenched method of organizing the state. He also shows how private actors have been unsuccessful in buying preferential treatment directly from the state. Instead, public officials have become the predominant conduit to influencing policy process and monitoring the sale of protection, property rights, and other privatized “public” goods.
“A superb study that fundamentally challenges our perception of the post-Soviet Central Asian state. Engvall’s thesis is the most novel and convincing account of post-Soviet Kyrgyz state formation of the past decade.”—Eric McGlinchey, George Mason University
Johan Engvall is a research fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI) and a nonresident research fellow of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program, a joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center affiliated with Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Washington, D.C. and the Stockholm-based Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP).
CACI FORUM
Fresh Insights on Andijan, 2005
Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016, from 5 to 7 p.m.
(reception at 5 p.m. with Georgian wine; main program at 5:30)
An armed uprising rallied by an Uzbek Islamic group, and the clash with Uzbekistan's security forces in Andijan on May 13, 2005, has long been a subject of contention. Now Jeffry W. Hartman has published a detailed account of what is known to have occurred, and John C.K. Daly has written a study on how the international press actually covered those events. Both authors will present their findings at this forum, and discussion will follow.
A video recording of this event is now available on the SAIS events YouTube channel.
Speakers:
John C.K. Daly, Non-Resident Senior Scholar, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
Jeffry W. Hartman, Colonel, U.S. Army, and Chief, Army International Affairs
Moderated by S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
Al Jazeera, September 8, 2016
The future of Uzbekistan – click to view episode.
Al Jazeera The Stream spoke to Sarah Kendzior @sarahkendzior, Researcher on Uzbekistan, Navbahor Imamova @Navbahor, Journalist for Voice of America, and Svante Cornell @SvanteCornell, Director of Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, Johns Hopkins University SAIS
CACI FORUM
A Salute to Paul Goble:
Featuring Paul Goble's Prognoses on
the Future of the 'Eurasian Heartland'
Wednesday, September 14, 2016, from 5 to 7 p.m.
(reception at 5 p.m., followed by the main program at 5:30)
This special forum, organized jointly with The Jamestown Foundation, will honor Paul Goble, eminent scholar and expert on Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Paul will share with us his view on the prospects of states and people in this important strategic region, which includes the Caucasus and Central Asia, as well as the Baltic countries and Ukraine. Several of Paul's long-time friends, colleagues, and professional associates will comment on his intellectual contribution to the study of the area stretched from Eastern Europe to Western China.
Video recording of the special event is now available on the SAIS Events YouTube channel.
Speakers include:
Honorable S. Enders Wimbush, Distinguished Senior Fellow, The Jamestown Foundation, and Partner, StrateVarious, LLC
H.E. Ambassador Marmei, Ambassador of Estonia to the United States
Blair Ruble, Vice President for Programs, Woodrow Wilson Center; Senior Advisor, Kennan Institute
S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
Rome Building Auditorium
SAIS - Johns Hopkins University
1619 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20036
Click here to RSVP and register