Forums & Events
[VIDEO POSTED] CAMCA Forum Event: Uzbekistan's Emerging Private Business Development
Uzbekistan's Emerging Private Business Development
Co-organized by the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, the CAMCA Network and Rumsfeld Foundation
This forum examined the rising private sector in Uzbekistan, as experienced by some of the impressive young entrepreneurs who are making it happen.
Speakers:
Zafar Khashimov, Entrepreneur and Founder of the Supermarket Chain Korzinka.uz
Hikmat Abdurahmanov, Entrepreneur, Co-founder of HM Partners/TEAM University, CAMCA Network Member
Dora Atadjanova, Founder and CEO of “Teodora Goods”, exporter of agricultural goods, and “Dalatek”, agro-tech platform and mobile application
Anvar Irchaev, Director, Orient Capital Management
Zuhursho Rahmatulloev, Co-Founder, Alif Bank in Tajikistan and CEO, Alif Tech in Uzbekistan, CAMCA Network Member
Moderator:
S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at American Foreign Policy Council
When: Wednesday, May 12, 2021
The event was also live-streamed on the CACI YouTube page.
[VIDEO POSTED] CAMCA Forum Event: Constitutional Reform in Kyrgyzstan: Step Forward, or Step Backward?
Constitutional Reform in Kyrgyzstan: Step Forward, or Step Backward?
Co-organized by the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, the CAMCA Network and Rumsfeld Foundation
With the October 2020 elections and the political turbulence which preceded and followed them, the Kyrgyz Republic has embarked on major constitutional reforms. These events are taking place amidst the COVID pandemic and eroded social and economic conditions. Our expert panel assessed these developments and suggested alternative outcomes.
Speakers:
Talant Sultanov, Founder and the Chair of the Kyrgyz Chapter of the Internet Society and Expert at the Center for Strategic Initiatives; CAMCA Network Member
Mirsuljan Namazaliev, Founder and Managing Director of the CAFMI Research Center; Political and Campaign Manager; CAMCA Network Member
Johan Engvall, Senior Research Fellow, the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program; Researcher, Swedish Institute of International Affairs
Azim Azimov, Founder and CEO of Media Kitchen; CAMCA Network Member
Moderator:
Dr. S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at American Foreign Policy Council
When: Wednesday, April 28, 2021
The event was livestreamed on Zoom and is now available on Youtube.
[VIDEO POSTED] ISDP Online Forum: Nuclear Disarmament: The Stockholm Initiative and the NPT Review Conference
Nuclear Disarmament: The Stockholm Initiative and the NPT Review Conference
Originally scheduled for 2020, the Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty is now tentatively planned for August 2021. Ahead of this Conference, a group of 16 states from different regions and security contexts joined in 2019 to form the Stockholm Initiative on Nuclear Disarmament, in order to advance nuclear disarmament in a time of a deteriorating international security environment. At this webinar, representatives from Sweden, Kazakhstan, and Germany will discuss the Stockholm Initiative as well as the most pressing issues facing the agenda of nuclear disarmament. This includes the denuclearization of the DPRK, the fate of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran, and arms control dialogue among nuclear powers.
Speakers:
Amb. Ann-Sofie Nilsson, Ambassador for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Amb. Dastan Yeleukenov, Advisor to the Director, Kazakhstan Institute of Strategic Studies and former Head of the Department for International Security, Kazakhstan Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Commentator:
Olaf Poeschke, Deputy Head of Division, Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, Federal Foreign office, Berlin
Moderators:
Svante E. Cornell, Director, Institute for Security and Development Policy
When: April 7, 2021
The event is now available on YouTube.
[VIDEO POSTED] CAMCA Forum Event: Afghanistan's Emerging Modern Economy, Presented by Men and Women Who Are Building It
Afghanistan's Emerging Modern Economy, Presented by Men and Women Who Are Building It
Co-organized by the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, the CAMCA Network and Rumsfeld Foundation
This Forum was the first in the series of events offering glimpses of the new Afghanistan which our press neglects, in the words of men and women who are building it.
Speakers:
Ms. Zuhal Atmar, President and Owner of Gul-Mursal Waste Paper Recycling Factory, the first woman run recycling plant in Afghanistan
Mr. Farshid Ghyasi, President and CEO of NETLINKS Inc. Afghanistan; Partner at Click.af, the leading e-commerce website in Afghanistan
Mr. Assadullah Zamir, Founder of Abreshum Venture; Founder of solar energy companies Akbar Zahir and Lunar; CAMCA Network Member
Moderator:
S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at American Foreign Policy Council
When: Wednesday, April 7, 2021
The event was livestreamed on the CACI Facebook page and is now available on YouTube.
News
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Read CACI Chairman S. Frederick Starr's recent interview on the resurgence of Imperial Russia with The American Purpose
Why Russians Support the War: Jeffrey Gedmin interviews S. Frederick Starr on the resurgence of Imperial Russia.
The American Purpose, May 23, 2023
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.
What do most Russians think of this deal? It leaves them bereft of the normal rights of citizenship but free from its day-to-day responsibilities. So instead of debating, voting, and demonstrating, Russians store up their frustrations and then release them in elemental, often destructive, and usually futile acts of rebellion. This “Russia problem” leaves the prospect of change in Russia today in the hands of alienated members of Putin’s immediate entourage, many of whom share his vision of Russia’s destiny and are anyway subject to Putin’s ample levers for control. Thus, our “Putin problem” arises from our “Russia problem.”
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CACI director Svante Cornell's interviewed on the 'John Batchelor Show' podcast regarding Turkey's 2023 presidential election
Listen to CACI director Svante Cornell's recent interview on the 'John Batchelor Show' podcast regarding Turkey's 2023 presidential election. Click here!
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New Article Series on Changing Geopolitics of Central Asia and the Caucasus
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CACI Initiative on Religion and the Secular State in Central Asia and the Caucasus
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.
Azerbaijan's Formula: Secular Governance and Civil Nationhood
By Svante E. Cornell, Halil Karaveli, and Boris Ajeganov
November 2016
Religion and the Secular State in Kazakhstan
By Svante E. Cornell, S. Frederick Starr and Julian Tucker
April 2018
Religion and the Secular State in Uzbekistan
Svante E. Cornell and Jacob Zenn
June 2018
Religion and the Secular State in Kyrgyzstan
Johan Engvall
June 2020
Religion and the Secular State in Turkmenistan
Victoria Clement
June 2020Articles 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.