S. Frederick Starr Testifies at House Subcommittee Hearing on "Current Developments in Central Asia"
CACI Forum: Toward "Enlightened Islam"? Religion and the Secular State in Uzbekistan
Toward "Enlightened Islam"? Religion and the Secular State in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan has remained staunchly secular and taken a firm stand against extremist movements since independence. In recent years, however, Uzbekistan’s policies have shifted from a defensive to a more proactive approach. The recent surge of reforms has affected the religious area as well. Uzbekistan has taken major steps toward the promotion of what President Shavkat Mirziyoyev terms “Enlightened Islam” at home and on the world stage.
This Forum was part of CACI’s ongoing research on the relationship between politics and religion in Central Asia and the Caucasus, and coincided with the release of the Silk Road Paper “Religion and the Secular State in Uzbekistan”, by Svante E. Cornell and Jacob Zenn.
Speakers: Svante E. Cornell, Director, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at the American Foreign Policy Council
Moderator: Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
Where: Middle East Institute: 1319 18th Street NW, 20036
When: Thursday, June 7, 2018 from 4:00 - 5:30 pm
Full Recording of the Forum Below:
CACI Forum: Opening Up in the Caucasus and Central Asia
Opening Up in the Caucasus and Central Asia: Policy Frameworks to Support Regional and Global Integration
The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute's (CACI) Forum continued its long-term partnership with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to present it's semi-annual Economic Outlook for the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) and a special paper on how to leverage regional and global integration to capitalize on the more favorable global environment. The subject of discussion is of particular significance in times of profound political and economic changes in the region.
Speakers:
Juha Kähkönen, Deputy Director, Middle East and Central Asia Department, IMF
Peter Kunzel, Assistant to Director, Middle East and Central Asia Department, IMF
Moderator: Mamuka Tsereteli, Senior Research Fellow, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
Where: Middle East Institute: 1319 18th Street NW, 20036
When: Tuesday, June 5, 2018 from 4:00 - 6:00 pm
Video Below
CACI Forum Invitation: Opening in Uzbekistan: A Preview of President Mirziyoyev's Visit
Opening in Uzbekistan: A Preview of President Mirziyoyev's Visit
Please join the Atlantic Council and the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute of the American Foreign Policy Council for an event entitled Opening in Uzbekistan: A Preview of President Mirziyoyev's Visit on Monday, May 14, 2018 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Atlantic Council headquarters (1030 15th Street NW, 12th Floor, West Tower Elevators).
This May, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan will visit Washington, DC at the invitation of US President Donald J. Trump. The new government under President Mirziyoyev announced political and economic reforms to open Uzbekistan for international cooperation and foreign direct investments. The new regional policy of Tashkent in Central Asia has given dynamism and prospects to solve old issues like border demarcation, a fair share of water resources, extremism and terrorism, and peace building process in Afghanistan.
The Atlantic Council and the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute of the American Foreign Policy Council are convening a panel to discuss and evaluate President Mirziyoyev’s visit to the White House, along with implications for US-Uzbekistan relations, broader international and regional issues, and overall stability in the region.
We hope you can join us for this timely discussion.
Speakers:
Senator Sodiq Safoev
First Deputy Chairman
Senate of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Dr. Akmal Saidov
Director; Chairman
National Human Rights Centre of the Republic of Uzbekistan; Committee on Democratic Institutions, Non-Governmental Organizations and Citizens' Self-Governing Bodies Committee of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis
Ambassador Ismatulla Irgashev
Special Representative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Afghanistan
Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Mr. Eldor Aripov
Director, Information and Analytical Center for International Relations
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Ms. Lisa Curtis
Deputy Assistant to the President
and Senior Director for South and Central Asia
National Security Council
Dr. Frederick Starr
Founder and Chairman
The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and the Silk Road Studies Program
Moderator: Ambassador John Herbst
Director, Eurasia Center
Atlantic Council
Where: The Atlantic Council, 12th Floor (West Tower Elevators), 1030 15th Street, NW
When: Monday, May 14, 2018 from 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
RSVP: Send to Atlantic Council
CACI Forum with Rumsfeld Fellows - Impact of Digital Connectivity on Governance and Economies of CAMCA Countries
CACI Forum with the Rumsfeld Fellows - Impact of Digital Connectivity on Governance and Economies of CAMCA Countries
The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute presented this spring's team of Rumsfeld Fellows, emerging leaders from the Caucasus, Afghanistan, Mongolia, and Central Asia (which the alumni themselves have dubbed the 'CAMCA Region.') At this session, they discussed how new platforms of digital connectivity between CAMCA countries can contribute to diversifying and strenthening of national economies, accelerate emerging regionalism in CAMCA and help to better integrate the region into the world economy.
Moderator:
S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
For a list of the 2018 Spring Central Asia-Caucasus Fellows, a partnership between the Rumsfeld Foundation and American Foreign Policy Council's Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, click HERE.
For a link to the Rumfeld Fellows' Presentation, click HERE.
Where: The Middle East Institute, 1319 18th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036
When: Wednesday, May 2, 2018 from 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
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.