CACI Fall 2009 Fellows Announced

The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and the Rumsfeld Foundation are sponsoring a fellowship program for emerging regional leaders in government, commerce, and academia from Central Asia, the Caucasus and Afghanistan.  The goal of this program is to foster better understanding and build stronger relations between the United States and countries of the region.  The program brings a small group of young leaders from the region to Washington DC twice a year. This is a six week comprehensive orientation that includes research, and high level meetings with leading figures in government, business, journalism, NGOs, think tanks, and universities.  The first group of five fellows visited Washington, DC last fall and had a very successful program.

The program has generated significant interest in the region and we have received applications from all countries of the region by a significant number of highly qualified candidates. CACI and the Rumsfeld Foundation decided to expand the program and upon conclusion of a multiphase selection we are pleased to announce seven winners for the spring 2009 session:

Mr. Vahe Grigoryan (Armenia) is a practicing lawyer in Armenia. He is largely involved in movements against human rights violations in Armenia by representing the human rights cases before domestic courts and the European Court of Human Rights. Due to his professional activities in human rights he has been greatly harassed by the authorities up to and including detention.  He has participated in a number of human rights trainings and seminars organized by the Council of Europe (2008 Strasbourg), Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Poland (2007 Warsaw) and Interights (2009 London). Since 2007 Mr. Grigoryan is a member of the Board of the Chamber of Advocates of Armenia. Mr. Grigoryan earned his postgraduate degree in Law from the Yerevan State University, Armenia. In 2009 he completed his LLM in the Human Rights Law course at the Law School of the University of Nottingham, UK. Research project – “Human Rights and State: Comparative Analysis of Human Rights Records in Armenia and Georgia since 2005 and its Reflection onto the Certain Functions of These States”

Ms. Gunay Rahimova (Azerbaijan) is a Third Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan where she works as the US Desk officer in the First Territorial Department.  From 2004-2008 she served as the Cultural Affairs Attaché at the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Greece. Prior to her post in Greece she served in the Translation Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Ms. Rahimova holds a BA (1999) and a MA (2002) in the Science of Languages from Azerbaijan University of Languages, and is fluent in Azerbaijani, English, Russian, and Turkish with knowledge of Greek and French. She also holds certificates from the UNDP courses on Management (Baku, Azerbaijan 2003) and the Institute of International Relations (Cairo, Egypt 2004).  Research project – “Policy of the New US Administration towards Azerbaijan: Change or Continuity?”

Mr. Beka Aladashvili (Georgia) is the Head of the Defense Policy Division in the Defense Policy and Planning Department at the Ministry of Defense of Georgia, where he is responsible for the development of key strategic documents and drafting of Georgian defense policy priorities.  Prior to his current position, Mr. Aladashvili worked in the Ministry of Defense as the Deputy Head of the Defense Policy Division, and as a Senior Specialist in national security affairs. Since 2003, Mr. Aladashvili has attended a number of professional development courses and activities on national security and defense policy issues in Europe and in the United States. From 2001-2002 Mr. Aladashvili worked as a Senior Specialist in the Department of Demography at the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia. Mr. Aladashvili holds a BA (2001) and a MA (2003) in History of Diplomacy and International Relations from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University in Georgia. Currently he is pursuing his Ph.D. in the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences at the Ilia Chavchavadze State University in Georgia researching national security decision-making processes. Research project – “Methods in Developing National Security Review: Assessing Effectiveness of National Security Machinery”.

Mr. Irakli Laitadze (Georgia) is the Deputy Chief Financial Officer (Deputy CFO) of GMT Group. GMT Group is the leading private sector investor in Georgia, with over $500 million in capital invested across 4 portfolio companies in several industries. At the same time, Mr. Laitadze is an executive director of the non-profit organisation, ‘’Society for Study and Analysis of Values’’. Mr. Laitadze has worked for the foreign service of Georgia in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well in the Mission of Georgia to the European Union and the Embassy to Benelux countries.  He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economic and Social Geography from the Tbilisi State University, Georgia, Diploma from the Diplomatic School of Madrid, Spain and MBA from the University of Cambridge, UK. Research project – ‘’Universal Values of Democracy/Local Values and the Modern Democratic State’’

Ms. Aizhan Zhantayeva (Kazakhstan) is a Managing Director in the Corporation for Export Development and Promotion. She is in charge of a unit responsible for foreign direct investment attraction. Before her current position, Ms. Zhantayeva worked for the Administration of the President of Kazakhstan as a consultant in the Center for Strategic Research and Analysis. Her main functions covered international visit preparation in the economic sphere, analysis of the countries for official visits of the President of Kazakhstan, and project preparation, which may serve as a point of discussion in potential economic cooperation. Ms. Zhantayeva also actively participated in implementation of the government project “The Diversification of Kazakhstan’s Economy through Cluster Development in Non-Extraction Sectors of the Economy”. She holds a MBA (2002) from the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research.  Ms. Zhantayeva also earned a Master of Science degree in Finance and Accounting from the Birmingham University, UK in 2003. Research project – “In Search of Kazakhstan’s National Brand”

Dr. Nafisa Abdullaeva (Uzbekistan) is a partner at Lex Mark Advocate Law Firm specializing in the preparation of legal opinions on the subjects of compliance of foreign contracts with the current legislation of Uzbekistan (insurance, loan, contractor’s agreements), due diligence of companies’ activities, legal consultations on bankruptcy, and voluntary liquidation matters. She holds a BA (1998) and a MA (2002) in International Law from the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Tashkent, and received her Ph.D. at the Tashkent State Judicial Institute. Dr. Abdullaeva participated in diplomatic courses at Cairo State University (Egypt 2005). She also carried out active research activity from 1999-2008 when she taught at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy. Currently Dr. Abdullaeva works at the Academy of State and Social Construction under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, where she gives lectures for high and middle level governmental officials and managers. Dr. Abdullaeva is an author of more than 30 publications on law in Uzbekistan and abroad. Research project - "Transnational Corporations as Actors in International Relations and International Law"

Mr. Murod Ismailov (Uzbekistan)