The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at SAIS, Johns Hopkins University invites you to a Forum:

“Does the US matter to governments and people in Central Asia and the Caucasus? Should it?”

Featuring

Location, resources, and security concerns have made Central Asia and the Caucasus zones of great interest to the global powers, including the U.S. A group of talented young leaders from the region,  fall 2010 Rumsfeld Fellows at the CACI, offer their insights on the reverse question, e.g., whether the U.S. matters, or should matter, to governments and people in the Caucasus and Central Asia.

The presenting fellows are:  Hanifa Ahmadov, Azerbaijan; Kuban Ashyrkulov, Kyrgyzstan; Khursid Kholov, Uzbekistan; Marika Laliashvili, Georgia; Dowran Orazgylyjow; Turkmenistan; Firuza Rahimova, Tajikistan; Artak Shakaryan, Armenia and Aigerim Shilibekova, Kazakhstan.

Wednesday, November 10, 5-7 p.m.
Rome Auditorium, 1st Fl., the Rome Building
SAIS, Johns Hopkins University
1619 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036

While U.S. politicians debate America’s CHOICES in Afghanistan, it is worth asking what COMMITMENTS, if any, has the U.S. entered into? Part of the answer lies with the "Afghan Compact", a five-year agreement between international partners and Afghanistan launched by the Government of Afghanistan at the London Conference, Jan 31-Feb 1, 2006. The compact formalized commitments to Afghanistan and stipulated its key areas of activity. The U.S. reconfirmed its commitment to the compact in November, 2009.  Additionally, a shared, international commitment to Afghanistan was declared   at the Paris Conference in 2008.

Speaker at this Forum, Minister Ali Jalali, former Minister of Internal Affairs of Afghanistan, has written extensively on Afghan military affairs and on civil development. Earlier he served as colonel in the Afghan Army and was a top military planner with Afghan Resistance after the 1979 Soviet invasion.

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.