Tuesday, 05 May 2015

Presidential Elections in Kazakhstan

Published in Forums & Events

CACI FORUM

Presidential Elections in Kazakhstan

Tuesday, 5 May 2015, from 5 to 7 PM

You may view a recorded version of this CACI Forum below or on the SAIS events YouTube channel.

Kazakhstan conducted snap elections for the presidency on 26 April, 2015, with President Nazarbayev winning by 97% of vote.  While critics question whether opposition candidates were given adequate time to mobilize their campaigns, defenders argue that this vote of confidence in the existing leadership of the country is reassuring to the country's international partners and investors at a moment of considerable stress throughout the region. Speakers will provide first-hand insights on the election and broader perspectives. 

 Speakers

   John Herbst
   Director, Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council, Former US Ambassador to Uzbekistan 

   Vladimir Socor
   Senior Fellow, Jamestown Foundation 
 
   Alex Vatanka
   Fellow, Middle East Institute 

   Hon. Robert Wexler
   Former Congressman 

   S Frederick Starr (Moderator)
   Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute/Silk Road Studies Program 

Location: 
Rome Building Auditorium
Johns Hopkins University - SAIS
1619 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC  20036

Click here to RSVP

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    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.

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

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  • 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.

    az-formula-SRSP

    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.