Reports & Papers
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Caspian Studies Program
On the eve of the U.S. Presidential elections, Harvard University's Caspian Studies Program held a conference in Cambridge titled "U.S.-Russian Relations: Implications for the Caspian Region" (October 22-23, 2000). Security studies specialists, experts on the Caspian region, and past and present U.S. and Russian policymakers attended the conference. There was lively and candid debate about the respective policies of the U.S. and Russia toward the region; there were also discussions about the impact of great and regional power rivalry on the state of conflict, stability, and development.
A number of policy recommendations emerged from the conference that should help the new U.S. Administration promote U.S. interests without contributing to the destabilization of the region or to worsening relations with Russia (outcomes which are clearly in conflict with overall U.S. interests). The Executive Memorandum of this report summarizes these policy recommendations as well as the main findings of the conference. There was not always a consensus on all points and not every member of the forum supported the overall opinions and findings of the conference; thus, this summary is not necessarily representative of the assessments of each and every conference participant. Footnotes have been added in places, updating some of the developments in U.S. policy that have emerged since the conference.
Download the full report in PDF:October2000ConferenceReport.pdf
Download the text of the report (without photographic inserts) in Microsoft Word:October 2000 Conference Report.doc