The al-Farabi Carnegie Program on Central Asia was established by al-Farabi Kazakh National University and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 2011. The primary mission of the program is:

To generate a deeper dialogue between policy institutes, business leaders and governments in Kazakhstan, Central Asia and international audiences on a wide range of issues including regional and global security, non-proliferation, regional trade, climate and energy.

In doing so, the program is helping to deepen international awareness and understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing Central Asia. Located within al-Farabi University’s Faculty of International Relations, the program reflects the Carnegie Endowment’s commitment to collaborative research by engaging scholars from around the world to address pressing questions of regional and global concern and to effectively communicate policy recommendations in Astana, Washington and other world capitals.

Areas of Focus

Afghanistan Initiative: Collaborating with colleagues in the Washington-based South Asia Program and Carnegie’s Transatlantic Afghanistan Initiative in Brussels, al-Farabi Carnegie scholars will aim to formulate fresh ideas and promote the Central Asian viewpoint of the Afghan situation through publications, meetings, and conferences.

Religion, Security, and Ethnic Tolerance: Al-Farabi Carnegie research will examine regional developments through the prism of religion, ethnicity, and other socio-cultural factors, paying particular attention to the role of Islam, problems of nationalism, the formation of political and economic elites, and the traditions of Kazakhstan’s religious and ethnic tolerance.

Regional Economics and International Trade in Central Asia: Partnering with the Washington-based International Economics Program and the Carnegie Middle East Center, experts will look at the regional aspects of economic development in Central Asia, focusing on problems of transport, communications, labor migration, and international trade.

Nuclear Policy: Working closely with Carnegie’s Nuclear Policy Program, al-Farabi Carnegie scholars will provide leading expertise and policy analysis on the nuclear industry, nonproliferation, security, and disarmament issues.

Energy and Climate Change: Experts in Central Asia will partner with their colleagues in Washington and Beijing to engage global experts working in energy technology, environmental science, and political economy to develop practical solutions to energy and climate challenges for policy makers around the world.

Central Asian Regional Relations and Beyond: In conjunction with their counterparts in Washington’s Russia and Eurasia Program, al-Farabi Carnegie experts will engage policy makers and other leading scholars in Eurasia to promote regional and international cooperation on Central Asia.

Kazakh Economic Policy: Al-Farabi Carnegie scholars will monitor and analyze short- and long-term trends in the Kazakh economy, including macroeconomic developments, trade, commodities, and capital flows.

In the first year, our major focus will be on the twentieth anniversary of independence and the challenges which still remain. We will launch regional research projects on Islam and society, and on labor migration, and hold workshops on topics of shared interest to business and government, such as international standard setting with respect to the environment, approaches to combatting corruption and increasing transparency in the region. We will also begin a track-two dialogue on confidence building in contract dispute resolution. We also plan regional conferences on Afghanistan, on renewable energy, and on enhancing cooperation in transport and communication in cross-border regions.

Country and Regional Presence

The al-Farabi Carnegie Program headquarters are located within al-Farabi University’s Faculty of International Relations, and will maintain a strong presence in Astana, as well as various activities in Kazakhstan’s regions.

In Astana, the program is developing a series of workshops and discussions about evolving business and government relations, targeting young and mid-level government and business professionals; and a high-profile, distinguished speakers series geared towards senior government and business leaders.

The program will also organize a series of workshops and conferences based on the needs and priorities in Kazakhstan’s regions. Planned events include meetings on transport and infrastructure in Aktau and Atyrau.

The al-Farabi Carnegie Program will seek to establish strong partnerships with research institutions in neighboring Central Asian countries in order to facilitate cross-border cooperation and joint programming.

Educational Component

The al-Farabi Carnegie Program will also provide al-Farabi graduate students with internship opportunities in its Almaty office, as well as six-month fellowships at the Carnegie Endowment’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Funding

The al-Farabi Carnegie Program on Central Asia is made possible by individual and corporate gifts, foundation grants and through contributions from al-Farabi Kazakh National University and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Co-Directors

Fatima T. Kukeeva is a professor of international relations and foreign policy at al-Farabi Kazakh National University, specializing in foreign and security policy, transatlantic relations, American studies, issues of globalization and democracy. She is the author of two monographs and numerous articles on the U.S.-EU transatlantic partnership, U.S. policy in Central Asia, and U.S. foreign policy and international engagement more broadly. Kukeeva also directs the al-Farabi University’s Resource Center for American and Democratic Studies, which she founded in 2003 to promote American studies in Kazakhstan. She is a recipient of the presidential “Best Lecturer of the Year” fellowship (2007), and “Outstanding Scholar” fellowship (2008.)

Martha Brill Olcott is a senior associate with the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington, D.C. Olcott specializes in the problems of transitions in Central Asia and the Caucasus as well as the security challenges in the Caspian region more generally. She has followed interethnic relations in Russia and the states of the former Soviet Union for more than 25 years and has traveled extensively in these countries and in South Asia. Her new forthcoming books, In the Whirlwind of Jihad, and Tajikistan’s Difficult Development Path, discuss the relationship between Islam and the state in Uzbekistan, and trace the development challenges that Tajikistan has faced since the end of the country’s civil war in 1997.

About the al-Farabi Kazakh National University

Established in 1934 and renamed after the great Muslim thinker and scientist Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi in 1991 when Kazakhstan achieved independence, al-Farabi Kazakh National University is the leading institution of higher education and academic research in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate programs on a wide range of disciplines – from science to humanities to economics, law and international relations - to almost 19,000 Kazakh and international students.

With its fourteen departments, seven scientific institutes and eleven resource centers, the university’s mission is to provide a new generation of young professionals with a world-class education that will allow them to make significant contributions to the economic, political and social development of Kazakhstan and the global society.

About the Faculty of International Relations

The Faculty of International Relations offers undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate degrees in international relations, international law, regional studies and world economics. The faculty is dedicated to providing a truly international environment for its students by promoting close collaboration with leading academic and research institutions in Europe, the United States, and Asia. The faculty also hosts the European Information Center, Resource Center for American and Democratic Studies, and the NATO Resource and Information Center.

About Carnegie Endowment

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States. Carnegie experts grapple with a range of issues, including nonproliferation, global security and terrorism, developments in Russia, Eurasia, China, and the Middle East, international economics, climate change and energy consumption, and the rising influence of emerging powers and non-state actors.

Founded in 1910, the Carnegie Endowment is the world’s first global think tank, with offices in Washington, Moscow, Beijing, Beirut, and Brussels. These five locations include the centers of world governance and the places whose political evolution and international policies will most determine the near-term possibilities for in