The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at SAIS, Johns Hopkins University, and the International Monetary Fund invite you to a co-sponsored Forum:

“The Storm in Kyrgyzstan: Causes and Directions”


Featuring


Dr. Baktybek Beshimov, Member of Parliament, The Kyrgyz Republic

Dr. Baktybek D. Abdrisaev, former Kyrgyz Ambassador to the U.S.; currently Distinguished Visiting Professor and Faculty Lecturer, Utah Valley University

Moderating

Dr.  Frederick  Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute

Wednesday, June 23, 2010
5-7 PM
The Rome Auditorium, 1st Fl, Rome Building SAIS, Johns Hopkins University
1619 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036

In September 2009 CACI held a Forum with the prescient title “Gathering Clouds over Kyrgyzstan”.  For this Forum we reassemble the same Kyrgyz statesmen who so accurately predicted the unfortunate events unfolding today.

Our first speaker, Dr. Beshimov, a parliamentarian and head of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan, is one of his country’s most distinguished politicians, statesmen and scholars. A southerner, he was rector of Osh University, head of UN’s programs in the ethnically diverse Fergana Valley and ambassador to India. He defended the U.S. use of the Manas Air Base on the floor of the parliament and was eventually forced to leave the country when high-level persons made threats on his life. Nominated ambassador to the U.S. by interim president Rosa Otunbayeva, his appointment was withdrawn after interventions from Moscow. Our second speaker, Dr. Abdrisaev, served as ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic to Washington from 1996 to 2005. A physicist by training, he is widely regarded as one of his country's most astute and balanced analysts. His numerous articles in key U.S. newspapers are classic statements on the current problem. Most recently he co-authored for the WSJ “The Tulip Revolution Wilts: Does Anyone Care?”(WSJ, 11 June, 2010).

The Forum opens with a reception and refreshments at 5 PM. The program will begin promptly at 5:30 PM and conclude at 7 PM. RSVP for this event is mandatory and will not be accepted after 10 AM on the day of the event. To register, please send an email with your name and affiliation to SAISCACIForums@jhu.edu or call 202-663-7723.

The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute is a primary institution in the United States for the study of the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Caspian Region. The Institute, affiliated with Johns Hopkins University-SAIS, forms part of a Joint Center with the Silk Road Studies Program, affiliated with the Stockholm-based Institute for Security and Development Policy. Additional information about the Joint Center, as well as its several publications series, is available at www.silkroadstudies.org.