Thursday, November 6, 2014 from 12 PM to 2 PM
CACI Forum
On Nov. 4, Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Alasania was abruptly removed from office. Alasania was the leading official champion of Georgia’s “Euro-Atlantic Choice.” Appointed by the founder of the Georgian Dream coalition, tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili, Alasania was the leader of the Free Democrat Party.
The firing of Alasania is accompanied by greatly intensifying Russian pressure on Georgia. It opens a split within the coalition government and potentially marks a fundamental geopolitical shift in the Caucasus in Moscow’s favor. These events raise obvious parallels with events in Ukraine when Yanukovich abruptly turned toward Moscow. Coming in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it threatens the future of the East-West axis connecting Europe to Central Asia, which both Republican and Democratic administrations have worked hard over two decades to achieve.
Tuesday, November 4, 2014 from 5 PM to 7 PM
CACI Forum
Generational change in Central Asian, Mongolia, Afghanistan and the Caucasus (CAMCA) region is a major factor that will influence foreign policy and choices in models of economic and political developments of the nations of the region.
Prominent young leaders in business, government, and the independent sector this year's Rumsfeld Fellows at CACI from Afghanistan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan will analyze the current cultural environment, as well as opportunities and challenges for emerging young leaders to impact public, economic, and business life.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014, from 5 PM to 7 PM
CACI Forum
Kyrgyzstan: Prospects for Sovereignty and Stability
Kyrgyzstan went through two major political upheavals in the past decade--in 2005 and 2010, with the latter followed by serious inter-ethnic violence in the country’s south. At the same time, Kyrgyzstan embarked on the experiment--unique for the region--of introducing a parliamentary form of government. The country has also committed to join the Russian-led Eurasian Union.
How has Kyrgyzstan’s political system fared in the past four years? Have inter-ethnic tensions in the south been alleviated, and what is the role of Kyrgyz nationalism in the country’s politics?
And finally, what are the prospects for Kyrgyzstan’s sovereignty and independence in joining the Eurasian Union?
Tuesday, September 30, 2014, from 5 PM to 7 PM
CACI Forum / Book Launch
"Putin's Grand Strategy: The Eurasian Union and Its Discontents"
New book on Putin's objectives and tactics in Eurasia
Over the past year we have assembled a group of leading American and European experts to produce the first book-length study of Russian President Vladimir Putin's effort to create an Eurasian Union. The book indicates the ideological origins and character of this project, focusing not only on Putin's strategic objectives, but also the tactics he employs to achieve them.
The volume stresses the high degree of coordination that has been achieved among sectors of the Russian state that are accustomed to function as sovereign bureaucracies. Subsequent chapters analyze the response of eleven post-Soviet states to Putin's initiative, as well as the attitudes of China, Europe and the United States towards the initiative. The book suggests that Putin’s effort, if successful, would jeopardize the gains of two decades of independence in countries ranging from Moldova to Tajikistan. At the same time, however, the book traces processes by which those countries potentially affected have already worked to limit, dilute, and even undermine the union before it comes into being.