Caucasus and Central Asia Newsletter

The Caucasus and Central Asia Newsletter is no longer published, but archived past issues are available online. These contain articles from visiting speakers, Berkeley faculty, and Berkeley graduate students. Newsletter issues are available here in PDF format. You must have Acrobat Reader (free software from Adobe) in order to view these files.

Newsletter issues are available here in PDF format. You must have Acrobat Reader(free software from Adobe) in order to view these files.

Spring 2006 [2006-09ccan.pdf] 16 pages, 318 KB

  • "Early Soviet Film: From Tsarist to Soviet Vision of Central Asian Women" by Anaita Khudonazar, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Near Eastern Studies, UC Berkeley
  • "A Linguistic Analysis and Learner's Reference for Georgian Verbs" by Olga Gurevich, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Linguistics, UC Berkeley
  • "Icebreaker Three: The Caucasus in the US" by Izaly Zemtsovsky, visiting scholar, Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies

Fall 2005 [2005-08ccan.pdf] 20 pages, 350 KB

  • "Russia's Strategy in the Caucasus: Is Soft Power Part of the Game?" by Andrei P. Tsygankov, associate professor, Departments of International Relations and Political Science, San Francisco State University
  • "Beyond the New Wave: The Return to Folklore in Serik Aprymov's The Hunter" by Michael Rouland, Havighurst Postdoctoral Fellow, Miami University, Ohio
  • "Modes of Contemporary Central Asian Culture" Conference Summary
  • Photo Gallery, "Kazakh: Paintings by Saule Suleimenova"
  • Photo Gallery, "Modern Visions from Mongolia," with an introduction by Ts. Uranchimeg, Ph.D. candidate, History of Art Department, UC Berkeley

Spring 2005 [2005-07ccan.pdf] 20 pages, 400 KB

  • "Griboedov's Piano" by Daniel Brower, professor, Department of History, UC Davis
  • "A Culture of Corruption? Anti-Corruption Rhetoric and Revolution in Georgia" by Erik R. Scott, graduate student, Department of History, UC Berkeley
  • "Modern Art of Mongolia" by Ts. Uranchimeg, Ph.D. candidate, History of Art Department, UC Berkeley

Fall 2004 [2004-06ccan.pdf] 20 pages, 451 KB

  • "Georgia: Music at the Center" by Izaly Zemtsovsky, visiting scholar, Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
  • "Preserving Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage: A Virtual Catalog of the Begram Ivory and Bone Carvings" by Sanjyot Mehendale, executive director, Caucasus and Central Asia Program
  • "Summer Travelogue: Xinjiang" by Cindy Huang, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Anthropology
  • "Summer Travelogue: Uzbekistan" by Jody LaPorte, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Political Science
  • "Xinjiang: Central Asia or China? Conference Abstracts and Summary" by Cindy Huang, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Anthropology, and Jody LaPorte, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Political Science

Winter 2004 [2004-05ccan.pdf] 28 pages, 452 KB

  • "Cross-Border and Transnational Influences on Xinjiang Uyghur Nationalism" by Justin Rudelson, professor, Department of Languages, Suffield Academy
  • "The Georgian 'Rose Revolution': Causes and Effects" by George Sanikidze, director, Institute of Oriental Studies, Georgian Academy of Sciences
  • "Central Asia: Window into Cultural Crossroads" by Boris Barkanov and Regine Spector, Ph.D. candidates, Department of Political Science

Summer 2003 [2003-04ccan.pdf] 28 pages, 382 KB

  • "Mosque and State in the Caucasus, 1828-1841" by Dana Sherry, Ph.D. Student in History, University of California, Davis
  • "Activity of the Russian Orthodox Church Among the Muslim Natives of the Caucasus in Imperial Russia" by Manana Gnolidze-Swanson, Senior Research Fellow, G. Tsereteli Institute of Oriental Studies, Georgian Academy of Sciences
  • "Book Review: Michael Goodson and Larry Griffin" by Wali Ahmadi, Professor, Department of Near Eastern Studies
  • "Report on Current Research in Shari-Sabz, Uzbekistan" by Kim Codella, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Near Eastern Studies

Winter 2002-2003 [2003-03ccan.pdf] 20 pages, 196 KB

  • "Politics in the Periphery: Why Study Central Asia?" by Pauline Jones Luong, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Yale University
  • "Chechnya, the Pankisi Gorge, and US Policy" by Edward W. Walker, Executive Director, Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post Soviet Studies
  • "Preserving Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage" by Osmund Bopearachchi, Director of Research, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris

Summer 2002 [2002-02ccan.pdf] 24 pages, 1,658 KB

  • "The Afghanistan Campaign (Operation Enduring Freedom): Implications for Uzbekistan" by Natalya Khan, Professor of Oriental Studies, National University of Uzbekistan
  • "Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow...Georgia's Endless Transition" by Stephen F. Jones, Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies, Mount Holyoke College
  • "Azerbaijan in the Morning after Independence: Less Oil, More Graft" by Alec Rasizade, Fellow, Historical Research Center, Washington, DC
  • "Inner Asia: A Geographical Perspective" by David Hooson, Professor Emeritus, Department of Geography

Winter 2001-2002 [2001-01ccan.pdf] 28 pages, 1,618 KB

  • "Turkey and Eurasia in the Aftermath of the September 11 Tragedy: Some Obervations on Geopolitics and Foreign Policy" by Ruben Safrastyan, Director of Turkish Studies, Institute of Oriental Studies, Armenian National Academy of Sciences
  • "Identities, Communities, and Nations in Central Asia: A Historical Perspective" by Adrienne L. Edgar, Professor of History, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • "Roots of Rage: Militant Islam in Central Asia" by Edward W. Walker, Executive Director, Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies
  • "Russia's Stakes in the Anti-Terrorism Campaign" by Vadim Volkov, Professor of Sociology, European University, St. Petersburg
  • "Central Asia in American Foreign Policy after September 11" by Gail W. Lapidus, Senior Fellow, Institute for International Studies, Stanford University

Fall 2000 [2000-10.pdf] 20 pages, 839 KB

  • "Russia's Media Policy in Chechnya" by Lawrence Sheets, Knight Journalism Fellow, Stanford University
  • "Armenian Migration Crises in the South Caucasus and Their Consquences, 1988-2000" by Stephan Astourian, William Saroyan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies (2000-2001)
  • "Resolving the Karabagh Issue" by Robert Hewsen, Professor of Byzantine History, Rowan University
  • "Cooperation in the Caucasus: Model Versus Reality" by Leila Alieva, Visiting Scholar, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, SAIS

Spring 2000 [2000-09.pdf] 22 pages, 157 KB

  • "Killings in the Armenian Parliament: Coup d'Etat, Political Conspiracy, or Destructive Rage?" by Stephan Astourian, William Saroyan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies (1999-2000)
  • "No Winners, All Losers: Russia and the War in Chechnya" by Edward W. Walker, Executive Director, Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies
  • "Guilt and Agency in the Russian-Chechen War" by Johanna Nichols, Professor, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
  • "Two Incursions in Dagestan and Their Extraordinary Consequences" by John B. Dunlop, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution
  • "Afghanistan: How to Grow an Ethnic Conflict" by David Isao Hoffman, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political Science

Summer 1999 [1999-08.pdf] 32 pages, 735 KB

  • "Weak States and Ethnic Conflict" by Leila Alieva, 1998-1999 Visiting Caucasus Scholar, Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies
  • "Roads and Risks in the Petroshadow: Notes on Ecology and Environment in the Russian Caucasus" by Serge Glushkoff, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Geography
  • "1998—A Bad Year for Georgia?" by Ghia Nodia, Chairman, Caucasian Institute for Peace, Progress, and Development of Democracy, Tbilisi
  • "The Chechen Calamity" by Carlotta Gall, reporter for The Financial Times and The Economist
  • "The Caspian Sea—Where Foreign Policy and Business Interests Intersect" by Richard Morningstar, Special Advisor to the US President and the Secretary of State for Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy
  • "Public Health and Social Policy in Armenia" by Marina Kurkchiyan, Fulbright Scholar, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • "Grassroots Politics in the CIS: Citizens, Local Power, and Local Elections in Georgia" by Alexander Kukhianidze, Associate Professor of Political Science, Tbilisi State University

Winter 1998-1999 [1998-07.pdf] 28 pages, 332 KB

  • "From Ter-Petrosyan to Kocharyan: Causes and Prospects of the Transition in Armenia" by Stephan Astourian, William Saroyan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies (1998-1999)
  • "Chechnya and the Economic Consequences of Secession" by Edward W. Walker, Executive Director, Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies
  • "Witnessing History: Monitoring Azerbaijan's Presidential Elections" by John Dunlop, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution
  • "Equally Unfair and Equally Unfree? The 1998 Presidential Elections in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan" by David Isao Hoffman, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political Science
  • "Unresolved Issues in Twentieth-Century Armenian History" by Richard G. Hovannisian, Armenian Educational Foundation Professor Modern Armenian History, University of California, Los Angeles
  • "The Azerbaijan Presidential Elections and Azeri Foreign Policy" by Elkhan Nuriyev, Director, Center for International Studies, Baku
  • "A View from the Front: Media Coverage of the Post-Soviet Caucasus" by Thomas Goltz, journalist and independent film maker

Fall 1998 [1998-06.pdf] 20 pages, 337 KB

  • "Comparing Soviet and Russian Decision-Making in Afghanistan and Chechnya" by Oleg Grinevsky, former Soviet diplomat
  • "Islam in Chechnya" by Edward W. Walker, Executive Director, Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies
  • "Boom or Bane? Oil Dreams Haunt the Caucasus and Central Asia" by Marc Garcelon, Acting Executive Director (1997-1998), Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies

Spring 1998 [1998-05.pdf] 20 pages, 575 KB

  • "US Policy and the Caucasus" by Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia (1994-1996)
  • "Possible Solutions for the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: A Strategic Perspective" by Armen Aivazian, Fulbright Scholar, Center for Russian and East European Studies, Stanford University
  • "Change and Continuity in Armenia Today" by Gerard Libaridian, former Senior Advisor to President Ter-Petrossian (1991-1997)
  • "Politics of Oil in Post-Communist Azerbaijan" by Nasib Nassibli, President, Foundation for Azerbaijan Studies, Baku
  • "The New Silk Road: Energy, Regional Security, and Democratization in the Caucasus and Central Asia" by Rusudan Gorgiladze, Chief State Advisor to President Shevardnadze on the International Dimensions of Conflict Resolution

Fall 1997/Winter 1998 [1997-04.pdf] 16 pages, 190 KB

  • "The Caspian Sea Demarcation: From Stalemate to Fait Accompli?" by David Isao Hoffman, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political Science
  • "Oil and Instability in the Contemporary Caucasus" by Vartan Oskanian, First Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia
  • "US Strategic Interests in the Caspian Region" by Jayhun Molla-zade, President, US-Azerbaijan Council, Washington, DC
  • "The Changing Invariants of Armenian Identity" by Levon Abrahamian, 1997-1998 Visiting Caucasus Scholar, Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies
  • "The Cola Caucasus" by Ivan Ascher, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political Science

Summer 1997 [1997-03.pdf] 16 pages, 291 KB

  • "Nationalism, Democracy, and Ethnic Conflict in the Caucasus" by Ghia Nodia, 1996-1997 Visiting Caucasus Scholar, Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies
  • "Azerbaijan: The Pitfalls of Oil Politics" by Alec Rasizade, Visiting Scholar, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC
  • "Armenia's Progress Towards Democracy" by Ludmilla Haroutunian, Head, Department of Sociology, Yerevan State University
  • "Democracies and Ethnic Conflict: The Case of Abkhazia" by Revaz Gachechiladze, Head, Human Geography Department, Tbilisi State University
  • "An Alternate View from Abkhazia" by Liana Kvarchelia, Coordinator, Center for Humanitarian Programs, Abkhazia
  • "Forces of Stability and Instability in Transcaucasia" by Ghia Nodia, 1996-1997 Visiting Caucasus Scholar, Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies

Fall 1996 [1996-02.pdf] 20 pages, 252 KB

  • "Beyond the Bottleneck: Oil and Politics in the Near Abroad, an update" by David Hoffman, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political Science
  • "The Origins of Georgia's 'Pro-Western Orientation'" by Ghia Nodia, 1996-1997 Visiting Caucasus Scholar, Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies
  • "Update on Azerbaijan" by Michael Ochs, Professional Staff Advisor, US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
  • "Daghestan After the Chechen Conflict" by Robert Bruce Ware, College Lecturer in Politics, Oxford University; and Enver Kisriev, Head of Sociology, Dagestan Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences
  • "The Bridge Over the River Inguri and Beyond" by Catherine Dale, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political Science
  • "Impressions of Azerbaijan" by M. Steven Fish, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science

Winter 1995 [1995-01.pdf] 18 pages, 104 KB

  • "Russian Foreign Policy and Conflict in the Caucasus" by Fiona Hill, Associate Director, Strengthening Democratic Institutions Project, Harvard University
  • "The Republic of Armenia: Politics and Diplomacy" by Nikolai Hohvannisian, Director, Institute for Oriental Studies, Armenian Academy of Sciences
  • "The Cultural Roots of Ethnic Radicalization in the North Caucasus" by Sergei Arutiunov, Chairman, Department of Caucasian Studies, Institute of Ethnography and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences
  • "Karabakh: A Soluble Problem" by Ronald Grigor Suny, Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago
  • "Political Leadership Strategies in Azerbaijan" by Leila Aliyeva, Director General, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Baku
  • "Unresolved Tensions in Abkhazia" by Catherine Dale, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political Science

Many articles written by UC Berkeley faculty, academic staff, graduate students, and visiting scholars are posted on the Caucasus and Central Asia Articles page.

BPS publishes a working paper series, with many titles on the Caucasus and Central Asia. BPS Working Papers are available in PDF format on the BPS Working Papers Series page.