Harvard Research Helps Put Caspian Region on the Map

The Program's research agenda focuses on (i) American national interests in the Caspian Basin (ii) specific geopolitical realities and trends in the states bordering the Caspian Basin; and (iii) United States political, economic, and security strategy toward the Caspian region.

Dr. Graham Allison, Chair of the Program, Kennedy School Professor, and Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, together with Ambassador Robert Blackwill (also a Kennedy School Professor) were the lead authors of a report from the Commission on America's National Interests, issued in July 2000. The report establishes a hierarchy of American national interests and is often used as a handbook to guide U.S. foreign policy. The Commission includes 23 members many of whom are currently in leading roles in the new Administration or the Congress (for example Condoleezza Rice, Richard Armitage, John McCain, and Bob Graham). The report names the Caspian Basin a geopolitical crossroad that "demands more attention by American policymakers" and cites the Caspian as "the most promising new source" of world energy supplies, in an era when it is a vital U.S. national interest that "there be no major sustained curtailment in energy supplies to the world."

Dr. Allison and Ambassador Blackwill incorporated the Caspian region into the Kennedy School Spring 2001 curriculum, as they led over 60 Masters Degree students in an examination of U.S. policy on Caspian energy development and exports with a case study that encouraged students to consider the interaction among U.S. and regional business and government interests. The week after the students presented their policy recommendations to the class, they had the opportunity to discuss both the case and Caspian issues more generally with Ambassador Elizabeth Jones, Senior Advisor for Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy, while the Ambassador was visiting the Kennedy School for a day of Caspian Studies Program events.

The Caspian Studies Program's Research Director, Dr. Brenda Shaffer, informs policymakers, analysts, and the public through articles, editorials, conference appearances, and television and radio interviews around the world (the United States, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Germany, Ukraine, Israel, Turkey, and beyond). Her expertise includes geopolitical realities and trends in the states of the region, and their relations with one another and with the U.S. Dr. Shaffer has three books forthcoming: Partners in Need: Russia and Iran's Strategic Relationship (The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2001) Identity and Politics: The Azerbaijanis (tentative title, MIT Press, September 2001) and Culture and Foreign Policy: Islam and the Caspian (MIT Press, Spring 2002). Her articles attain audiences not only among regional specialists, but also in many branches of U.S. and other governments. For example, her piece "It's Not About Ancient Hatreds, It's About Current Policies: Islam and Stability in the Caucasus" (Caucasian Regional Studies, Vol. 5, No. 1 & 2, 2000) was included in the course materials and resources published by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Dr. Shaffer is consulted when there are important events in the region needing interpretation, and thus her voice can often be heard on the airwaves (most recently Israel Broadcasting Authority, BBC Azerbaijan Service, and Voice of America Armenian Service). Her opinion pieces, published in the nation's top newspapers, put recommendations on the table at critical junctures: for example she suggested a State Department reorganization as the new Bush Administration was taking shape, and proposed important principles for negotiation on the eve of the Key West summit for a Nagorno-Karabagh settlement.

The Caspian Studies Program has produced a number of research products, the most substantial of which is a 1,000 page Caspian Region Sourcebook. This comprehensive collection of primary documents on the Caspian region is the only resource of its kind that documents the history of U.S. and Russian policy toward the region, regional conflicts, energy resources, regional alliances, and specific geopolitical realities. It was lauded by security experts and U.S. officials at the Program's conference on U.S.-Russian Relations.

In October 2000, the Caspian Studies Program launched a new Policy Brief publication series designed to analyze crucial issues relating to the Caspian Region and propose policy recommendations. The first three Briefs in the series analyze changes in Russian policy, the structure of regional security, and the importance of Caspian oil, respectively. ("Putin's Caspian Policy" by Carol Saivetz; "Military Cooperation between Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Moldova in the GUUAM Framework" by Tomas Valasek; and "Energy Security: How Valuable is Caspian Oil?" by Lucian Pugliaresi.). The Caspian Studies Program has received positive feedback for its research products from the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Security Council, among other bodies.

Diplomats, Scholars, and Business Leaders Share Views on Caspian Issues

In its very active Caucasus and Caspian Seminar Series, the Program has brought area experts, journalists, oil company representatives, and U.S officials to Harvard to share insights, observations and research with the Program's research team, Harvard students and professors, and the broader Harvard and Cambridge communities. Summaries and transcripts of these seminars are made available on the Program's web page.

The Program sponsored two conferences in Fall 2000. The first, "U.S.-Russian Relations: Implications for the Caspian Region," provided a forum for experts to candidly discuss U.S. and Russian interests in the Caspian Region, and the ways in which U.S.-Russian relations impact and are affected by regional events. In addition to policymakers (such as Ambassador Carey Cavanaugh, Jon Elkind from the National Security Council, and Ambassador Anatoly Adamishin) and area experts, special efforts were made to include security and international relations experts from the Harvard faculty in order to introduce them to the specifics of the Caspian and to solicit their broad ranging expertise to inform the debate and discussion.

The second conference, which was co-sponsored with the Belfer Center's International Security Program (ISP) and with the German Council for Foreign Relations (DGAP), was an international conference dealing with energy security. Energy executives and researchers from Germany, France, Sweden, Britain, the U.S. and Kazakhstan attended. In additional outreach activities, members of the Caspian Studies Program participated in conferences in Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Germany, and the United States.

Rising Azerbaijani Leaders Train at Harvard

The Caspian Studies Program offers degree and executive program fellowships at the Kennedy School for Azerbaijani leaders. The recipients are known as United States-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (USACC) Fellows.

This year's USACC Fellows in the one-year Masters in Public Administration degree program have been outstanding ambassadors for their country and have stimulated interest in Azerbaijan at Harvard. At the same time, they have been taking advantage of Harvard's offerings as they form ideas about how best to help their country's democratic and economic development. The Fellows are Fuad Akhundov, Senior Inspector at the National Central Bureau of Interpol, and Tahir Kerimov, Senior Specialist at the President's Foreign Relations Department. The Kennedy School is also training their fellow countryman Ramin Isayev, Senior Economist for Statoil, in the same degree program, though he is funded separately.

Four USACC Fellows participated in Executive Education Programs in 2000, and similarly enriched the discussions and training for everyone involved. Having returned home, these participants have been recognized for their achievements. Afghan Abdullayev, then Dean of the School of Humanities at Khazar University, completed the "Leadership for the 21st Century" executive program. Elmina Kazimzade, Deputy Director of the Open Society Institute-Azerbaijan, completed the "Strategic Public Sector Negotiations" executive program. Elchin Amirbekov and Kamil Khassiyev, both then Heads of Division of International Organizations Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, completed the "National and International Security Program," and have since been promoted to Counselor at the Mission of Azerbaijan to NATO, and Counselor at Azerbaijan's Embassy in Vienna, respectively.

For comprehensive information and access to publications and events please visit the Program's website, which is also a comprehensive research resource on the region: http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/BCSIA/SDI.nsf/web/Caspian.