School of International Affairs’ Central Asia Program (CAP), the Open Society Foundation (OSF) awarded a grant of $600,197 to the fellowship program in December.
The funds support a program for young professionals from Central Asian countries—Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan—which have a chronic and acute lack of public policy experts and analysts.
“This program is training a new generation of Central Asian experts in policy matters and giving them a voice in the U.S. policy community working on Central Asia issues,” said Marlene Laruelle, director of the Central Asia Program and associate director of the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies. “By creating a new generation of local experts with a worldwide level of policy analysis, this program is helping these countries better shape their new policy environments.”
OSF support has allowed CAP to continue this unique fellowship, supporting eight fellows per year, consolidating partnerships with national foundations in the republics, helping to develop Central Asia-based projects such as summer schools, and strengthening and expanding the Central Asian Analytical Network and other alumni activities.