CACI Book Launch: THE LONG GAME ON THE SILK ROAD
Book Launch: The Long Game on the Silk Road
The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at AFPC held a book launch for their most recent work: The Long Game on the Silk Road, by S. Frederick Starr and Svante E. Cornell.
Drawing on CACI's twenty years of interaction with the region, the book takes stock of both American and European policies toward Central Asia and the Caucasus. It acknowledges the many achievements, but argues that Western policies suffer from serious and unacknowledged conceptual and structural flaws. The authors propose concrete ways to address these issues and render U.S. and European policies more effective.
Speaker:
Fred Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
Svante Cornell, Director, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
Where: The Middle East Institute, 1319 18th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036
When: Tuesday, May 1, 2018 from 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
CACI Forum: Economic Modernization in Uzbekistan under President Mirziyoyev
Economic Modernization in Uzbekistan under President Mirziyoyev
Since Shavkat Mirziyoyev became Acting President in September 2016, the Government of Uzbekistan has embarked on a series of far-reaching reforms in practically every area from foreign policy to governance and culture. A key element in the reform agenda has been the modernization of Uzbekistan’s economy. This Forum event marked the launch of another Silk Road Paper that analyzes this reform agenda. “Economic Modernization in Uzbekistan under President Mirziyoyev,” which was released on April 10, authored by Mamuka Tserereli.
The Forum event, moderated by CACI Chairman S. Frederick Starr, featured a summary of the published report, and commentary from representatives of the international financial institutions.
Speaker:
Mamuka Tsereteli, Senior Research Fellow, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
Albert Jaeger, Mission Chief for Uzbekistan, IMF
David M Gould, Lead Economist, Europe and Central Asia Region, World Bank
Moderator: S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
Where: The Middle East Institute, 1319 18th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
When: Tuesday, April 10, 2018 from 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
RSVP: Send to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or follow the link to Eventbrite
CACI Forum: Mirziyoyev's Domestic Reforms, Year One: Judiciary, Governance and Civil Society
Mirziyoyev's Domestic Reforms, Year One: Judiciary, Governance and Civil Society
Since Shavkat Mirziyoyev acceded to power in the fall of 2016, a wave of reforms has affected every sector in Uzbekistan – ranging from the judiciary and governance to electoral matters and civil society. The Western press and even analysts have taken only superficial note of these reforms. But what is their actual breadth and depth? Can they actually be implemented? And what will they mean for Uzbekistan and the region?
CACI addressed these issues in a Silk Road Paper by Anthony C. Bowyer entitled, Political Reform in Mirziyoyev's Uzbekistan: Elections, Political Parties and Civil Society.
This Forum, moderated by CACI Chairman S. Frederick Starr, presented the findings of our authors Mjuša Sever and Anthony Bowyer and focused on reforms in the judiciary, governance, and civil society.
Be sure to watch the full recording of the event below.
Speakers:
Mjuša Sever, Director, Regional Dialogue, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Anthony Bowyer, Senior Program Manager, Caucasus and Central Asia, IFES
Moderator: Fred Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
Where: The Middle East Institute, 1319 18th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
When: Tuesday, March 6, 2018 from 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
The Long Game on the Silk Road: US and EU Strategy for Central Asia and the Caucasus
CACI Forum Invitation: How US Aid Builds - and Undermines - the Afghan State
How US Aid Builds - and Undermines - the Afghan State
Dr. Nematullah Bizhan, author of Aid Paradoxes in Afghanistan: Building and Undermining the State, will present a disturbing critique of US and western aid to Afghanistan. Happily, he will also offer a prescription for fixing it.
Speaker:
Dr. Nematullah Bizhan, Research Fellow, Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University and former Director General of Budget, Ministry of Finance, Afghanistan.
Moderator: S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
Where: The American Foreign Policy Council, 509 C Street NE, Washington, DC 20002
When: Tuesday, February 20, 2018 from 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
RSVP: Send to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or follow the link to Eventbrite
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.