CACI Forums in Past Chronological Order:

June 11
Book presentation and Discussion: The Guns of War of August 2008: Russia’s War in Georgia, with Andrei Illarionov, David J. Smith and Svante E. Cornell.

June 10
“Yusuf of Balasagun: 11th Century Political Philosopher from Present-day Kyrgystan”, with S. Frederick Starr and Rusty Butler.

May 12
"Dealing with China: Central Asian Perceptions" with Dr. Marlène Laruelle and Dr. Sébastien Peyrouse

April 22
“Rising Leaders from Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Afghanistan Offer Recommendations for US Policy towards Their Region”, with CACI's current Young Leaders fellows.

March 25
"Stress-testing Central Asia: Financial Crisis and the Banking Sectors of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan", with Sergei Gretsky, William C. Veale and Robert S. Pace

March 18
"NATO and Central Asia: Past and Future" with Dr. Roger Kangas.

March 11
"Turkey, Russia, and the West in the Caucasus: a Turkish Perspective" with Amb. Ünal Çeviköz.

February 25
"Russia: Central Asia's 'Near Abroad', with Paul Goble, Washington DC.

February 23
“What’s at stake at the Manas Airbase?”, with Stephen J. Blank and Evan A. Feigenbaum, Washington DC.

January 28
"Impact of Indian events on NATO Initiatives in Afghanistan", with Gen. David Barno and Minister Ali Jalali, Washington DC.

January 26
"Caspian Energy, the US, EU, and Russia", with Amb. C. Boyden Gray, Washington DC.

December 16
"Turkey and NATO: in the Caucasus, Central Asia and Afghanistan," with Vahit Erdem. Click here to download audio for this event.

October 10
"Azerbaijan's Presidential Elections in the Context of National and Regional Developments", with Elkhan Nuriyev

October 1
"Policy Recommendations for the Incoming Administration Concerning Central Asia/Afghanistan", with S. Frederick Starr.

September 24
"A Report on the 'EU-Central Asia Security Forum' Just Held in Paris", with Hon. Pierre Morel. Click here to download an audio for this event.

September 17
"Policy Recommendations for the United States and the EU regarding South Caucasus: Georgia and Beyond", with Dr. Svante Cornell and Col. Jon Chicky. Click here to download an audio for this event.

July 16
"Turkmenistan after Turkmenbashi", with Richard Pomfret.

July 9
"Kazakhstan in Its Neighborhood", with Richard Weitz. Audio and Summary Online.

June 4
CACI Forum "WTO Accession: Kazakhstan's Prospects, Kyrgyzstan's Reality", with Zhanar Aitzhanova, Erlan Idrissov, and William Veale. Summary and audio online.

May 22
CACI Forum "New Developments in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization", with Dr. Pan Guang. Event audio and summary online.

May 21
CACI Forum "Renewable Energy in Uzbekistan: A Key to Future Development?", co-organized with the America-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce. Event audio and Summary online.

April 30
CACI Forum "Parliament and Political Parties in Kazakhstan", with Anthony Clive Bowyer, IFES.

April 23
CACI Forum "Russian Nationalism and Central Asia", with Dr. Marlene Laruelle, Senior Fellow, CACI. Summary online.

April 22
CACI Forum "Recent Russian Policies in Georgia: How Should the West Respond?" with H.E. Mr. David Bakradze, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia; Mr. Matthew Bryza, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State; Mr. Vladimir Socor; and Svante E. Cornell. Audio and summary online.

March 26
CACI Forum "Fergana Valley: a microcosm of problems and potential in the region", with Pulat Shozimov.

March 12
CACI Forum "From Illicit to Licit Livelihoods: Understanding the Changing Role of Opium in Rural Livelihoods in Afghanistan and One Possible Alternative Crop", with David Mansfield and Keith Disselkoen, Washington DC.(off the record)

March 5
CACI Forum "Kazakhstan's Emerging Middle Class", with John C.K. Daly.

February 13
CACI Forum "Gwadar Sea Port, A New Transportation Hub for Central Asia", with H.E. Mahmud Ali Durrani, Pakistan's Ambassador to the U.S. Audio of event online.

February 7
CACI Forum "White Collar Islamists" with Martha Brill Olcott, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Audio of event and summary now online.

CACI Forum "Pakistan's and Central Asia: Post-Bhutto Implications", with Senator Dr. Javaid Laghari, Pakistan. Audio of event now online.

January 22
CACI Forum "Directions in Language Policy and Practice in Central Asia and South Caucasus", with William Fierman and Dan E. Davidson. Forum summary and audio now online

January 8
CACI Forum "CAREC: A Coming Force in Regional Affairs?" with Johannes Linn, Brookings Institution Wolfensohn Center. Forum summary and audio now online.

2007

December 12
CACI Forum "Kyrgyzstan's South: Zone of Problem or Potential?", with Anthony Bowyer, Eric McGlinchey, and Scott Radnitz. Listen to audio of event here.

December 6
CACI Forum"Georgia’s Crisis: what’s behind it and where to go from here?", with Vladimir Socor and Svante Cornell. Listen to Audio of event here.

November 19
CACI Forum "Does Turkey Have a Future in Central Asia and the Caucasus?" with Zeyno Baran and Svante Cornell. Summary now online.

October 31
CACI Forum "Armenian Resolutions: Symbols or Substance? Implications for the Caucasus Neighborhood and for European and American Relations There", Washington. Summary now online.

October 17
CACI Forum on "A Decade of Peace in Tajikistan: Who Should Get the Credit?", with Vladimir Sotirov. Summary of the event is online.

October 9
CACI Forum on "Enhancing Investment & Competitiveness in Central Asia and Caucasus", with Dr. Rainer Geiger and Torek Farhadi. Summary of the event is online.

October 3
CACI Forum on "State of the Uzbek Economy Today", with Prof. Martin Spechler, Indiana University. Summary of event is online.

September 26
CACI Forum on "Central Asian Women: Full Participants Yet?" with six experts on and from the region. Summary of event is online

September 12
CACI Forum on "A New Kazakhstan" with H.E. Erlan Idrissov, Kazakhstan's Ambassador to the United States. Event summary now online.

July 18
CACI Forum on "The New Silk Roads: Transport and Trade in Greater Central Asia", 5-7 PM, featuring representatives of Central Asian Trade Ministries and co-authors of recently released book with same title.

14 February 2007
CACI Forum "New ideas Versus Old Thinking on the Conflicts in Georgia", with Vladimir Socor, Jamestown Foundation. [Click for audio]

8 February 2007
CACI Forum on "Europe and Central Asia", with Pierre Morel, EU Special Representative for Central Asia". (off the record)

6 February 2007
CACI Forum on "Central Asian Economic Integration: An American Perspective", with Evan Feigenbaum, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia. [Click for audio] [Click for PDF version of policy speech]

1 February 2007
CACI Forum on "Kyrgyzstan's New Constitution: A Way Out of the Political Crisis?", with Marat Sultanov, Speaker of Kyrgyzstan's Parliament.[Click for audio]

31 January 2007
CACI Forum "An Afghan Civil Society Movement - Sacrificers for Peace", with Hamed Wardak, the movement's Founder.


2006

13 December 2006
CACI Forum H.E. Mr. Zurab Noghaideli, Prime Minister of Georgia, spoke on "Three Years After the Rose Revolution: Democratic Reform and Regional Challenges", Washington DC, 5.00-7.00 PM.

13 December 2006
CACI Forum "The Emerging Political Life in Azerbaijan", with Asim Mollazade, Chairman, Democratic Reforms Party of Azerbaijan.

6 December 2006
CACI Forum "The Program for the North Caucasus of Dmitri Kozak, Putin's Special Representative There", with John B. Dunlop, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution.

25 October 2006
CACI Forum on "Diplomacy and War in Karabakh: an Unofficial American Perspective", with E. Wayne Merry, American Foreign Policy Council.

20 October 2006
CACI Forum on "Russia-Georgia Relations: Latest Developments", with Mr. Giga Bokeria, Parliament of Georgia, and H.E. Vasil Sikharulidze, Georgian Ambassador to the U.S.

28 September 2006
Silk Road Forum on “Managing the North Korea nuclear problem” with Mark Fitzpatrick, IISS.

27 September 2006
CACI Forum on "Tajikistan in 2006: An Ambassadorial Perspective", with Ambassador Richard Hoagland, former U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan.

20 September 2006
CACI Forum on "Caspian Energy: over-hyped and under-risked?", with Dr. Maureen Crandall, in cooperation with SAIS' International Energy and Environment Program.

6 July 2006
CACI Forum Address by Hon. Kassymzhomart Tokayev, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Washington DC.

28 June 2006
CACI Forum Farewell address by H.E. Hafiz Pashayev, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the United States, 1992-2006.

August 11, 2005, W. P. Carey Forum: "Tajikistan in the Central Asian Corridor of Reform", with Amb. Richard E. Hoagland, U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan.

May 24, 2005, W. P. Carey Forum: "The U.S.-Afghan Partnership", with H.E. President Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan. Listen to President Karzai's Speech.

May 11, 2005, W. P. Carey Forum: "The Rise of the Turkic World", with Hugh Pope, Istanbul Bureau Chief, Wall Street Journal.

May 4, 2005, W. P. Carey Forum: "Kyrgyzstan's Path Toward Democracy", with Ambassador Stephen Young, U.S. Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan.

April 20, 2005, W. P. Carey Forum: A "Greater Central Asia Partnership" for Afghanistan and Its Neighbors", with S. Frederick Starr, the Center's Chairman.

April 14, 2005, W. P. Carey Forum co-sponsored with Georgia Forum: " Georgia's National Security Reform and the Road to NATO and the EU: The 2005 Report of the International Security Advisory Board ", with Ambassador David Smith , Chairman, Georgia Forum and U.S. representative to the International Security Advisory Board for Georgia; Ambassador Jüri Luik, Estonian Ambassador to the United States and former Estonian representative to the International Security Advisory Board for Georgia; and Ambassador Revaz Adamia, Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Nations.

March 28, CACI Forum co-sponsored with China-Eurasia Forum: "The Water Crisis in Xinjiang", with Dr. Stanley Toops, Associate Professor of Geography and International Studies, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

March 23, 2005, CACI Forum: "The Chechen Insurgency after Aslan Maskhadov", with Ilyas Akhmadov, Visiting Fellow International Forum, National Endowment for Democracy, and Timothy Thomas, Foreign Military Studies Office, Fort Leavenworth.

March 16, 2005, CACI Forum: "Parliamentary Elections in Kyrgyzstan", with Dr. Bakyt Abdrisaev, Ambassador of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan in Washington.

March 2, 2005, CACI Forum: "Coexistence with Religious Parties and the Tajik Parliamentary Elections", with Dr. Pulat Shozimov, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Tajik Academy of Sciences.

February 15, 2005, CACI Forum, "Post-Soviet Fatal Accidents, Assassinations, and the Death of Zurab Zhvania", with Charles H. Fairbanks, Jr, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, Peter Reddaway, George Washington University Emeritus, and Emil Sanamyan, Armenian Assembly of America.

January 26, 2005, CACI Forum, "Kyrgyz Parliamentary Elections: Beginning of Post-Akaev Politics?", with Anisa Borubaeva and Anara Tabyshalieva, Visiting Fellows, CACI.

January 12, 2005, CACI Forum: "After Ukraine and Georgia: More Velvet Revolutions?", with Thomas Carothers, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Stephen Nix, International Republican Institute.

The CACI Forum

Forum Coordinator:
Marja Snyder

The CACI Forum, held in Washington at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute throughout the year, is well established as Washington's premier locus for rigorous discussion of issues pertaining to Central Asia and the Caucasus.

The purposes of the forum are:

•  To keep Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Caspian Basin in the attention of the Washington foreign policy elite.
•  To make steadily available the fruits of the latest and most authoritative research and analyses on conditions in this region, without taking sides on controversial issues.
•  To alert all those interested in the region to questions that are important but neglected in the public debate.
•  To give important officials in Central Asia, the Caucasus and Afghanistan an opportunity to present their views to a wider audience than might otherwise available to them in Washington. Accordingly, the presidents, prime ministers, or foreign ministers of all the states of the region have turned to the CACI Forum as an appropriate venue to present their views.

The audience at CACI Forums varies from sixty to more than four hundred. Because they consist of officials from the American and other governments, academics, ambassadors, NGO leaders, congressional staffers, journalists, businessmen and SAIS students, Forum audiences challenge speakers to do their best. Often the comments from the floor prove as interesting and fruitful as the formal presentations. Because of this, CACI Forums are regularly covered by Radio Free Europe/Free Asia, the Voice of America, and broadcasters from the region, as well as C-Span and other U.S. media.

The CACI Forum seeks to focus policy makers' attention on issues of importance to U.S. interests in the region, and benefits in this respect from its non-partisan access to the executive branch and both houses of Congress. Attendees are invited from a list that now contains more than 1,000 names of governmental officials, former officials, members of the Washington Policy community, members of Congress and their staffs, diplomats, business leaders, journalists, academics, and SAIS students. Most attendees are from Washington but numerous visitors from elsewhere in the US and abroad are received as well. They all find in the CACI Forum a common focus and point of dialogue for the many people who are interested in the region but are isolated in may governmental agencies, business offices, Capital Hill, the embassies, law firms, and think tanks. At CACI these people meet and get to know one another, find new sources of expertise, and become a community with more influence on policy overall than its members would have as scattered individuals.

Over the years, the Forum has not only broadened the range of issues deemed relevant to policy but has led the process of expanding the public's understanding of the geographical bounds of Central Asia and the Caucasus. Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, Xinjiang, Iranian Azerbaijan, and the peoples of the North Caucasus have all been brought into a discussion formerly limited to those parts of Central Asia and the Caucasus that had once been part of the Soviet Union.