Reports & Papers
from
Caspian Studies Program
The Silk Road Conference:
Regional Cooperation, Understanding, and Prosperity
Baku, Azerbaijan
March 16-18, 2002
On March 16-18, Edmund S. Muskie Fellowship alumni from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan convened in Baku for a special conference sponsored by the U.S. State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. This conference marked the tenth anniversary program of the Muskie Program, which sponsors international students'' graduate studies in the United States.
At the opening session, CSP Research Director Brenda Shaffer delivered a lecture on "Security in Central Asia and the Caucasus: Moving Forward." Other speakers at the opening session included Ross Wilson, U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan, and Richard Morningstar, former special advisor to the president and secretary of state for Caspian Basin energy diplomacy.
Leading academics and policymakers in Azerbaijan -- including Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov, Deputy Minister of National Security Fuad Iskenderov, and Deputy Minister of Education Elgar Qasimov -- attended the opening session of this conference. Representatives of major energy companies working in Azerbaijan were also present.
During the conference, the Caspian Studies Program sponsored a half-day workshop on ways to promote policy ideas, focusing on the techniques of policy memorandum writing. Brenda Shaffer led the workshop, which was based on materials used in courses at the Kennedy School of Government.