Caucasus Institute
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The Caucasus Institute is a
think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...
and
postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...
institution. Its focus is on encouraging pluralistic discourse in the
South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...
, including the countries of Armenia,
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
, and
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. Its goal is to promote inclusive policy-making in Armenia through conducting research, producing and advocating policy documents and encouraging a pluralistic and informed public policy debate. The institute is located in downtown
Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...
. It was first founded in 2002 as the Caucasus Media Institute. In 2008, was renamed to Caucasus Institute. The institute organizes its trademark event, the Annual Caucasus Conference, international events that bring together experts from the South Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia), Russia (including the Northern Caucasus), Turkey, the U.S. and the EU to assess and discuss the situation with governance, transition and development in the region. The event is followed by the publication of ''CI Caucasus Yearbook'' in
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
, summing up the events of the yesteryear in the region. The yearbook contains the results of research on nation-building, democratization, development, regional and European integration of the Caucasus.


History

The Caucasus Institute was founded in 2002 by a group of professionals who had worked in journalism, social sciences and media development in various post-Soviet countries. The Caucasus Media Institute was partly rooted in another project in the 1990s called the Caucasus Media Support Project (CMSP): a conflict resolution project implemented by journalists. Initiated from
Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
by
Vicken Cheterian Vicken Cheterian (Western Armenian, Western , Eastern Armenian, Eastern ) is a Lebanese-born journalist and author, who teaches international relations at Webster University Geneva. He has also lectured at University of Geneva and SOAS University ...
, and funded by the
Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA, , , , ), so named since 1979, is one of the seven Departments of the Swiss government federal administration of Switzerland, and corresponds in its range of tasks to the ministry of foreign affa ...
, its aim was to create contacts and exchanges between journalists from the various conflict regions of the South Caucasus and to give them an opportunity to report from the "other side". The assumption was that if a journalist visit an "enemy territory", they will be capable of more balanced or at least more nuanced reporting. During the CMSP, journalists from
Abkhazia Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...
,
Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
,
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
,
Karabakh Karabakh ( ; ) is a geographic region in southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and Aras. It is divided into three regions: Highland Kara ...
and
South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...
took part in twelve meetings held in various towns of the South Caucasus. Although the project was a diplomatic success, it also showed the limits of journalism in the region. Journalists engaged in the project displayed great courage by daring to travel to the "other side". Yet, the media coverage that came out of such rich occasions was often thin, failing to capture to the experience in all its complexity and flavour. Another project that crystallized ideas behind the CMI was Central Asia Media Support Project (CAMP), similar to the CMSP, carried out in Central Asia countries sharing the sublime, yet highly tense
Fergana Valley The Fergana Valley (also commonly spelled the Ferghana Valley) in Central Asia crosses eastern Uzbekistan, southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan. Encompassing three former Republics of the Soviet Union, Soviet republics, the valley is e ...
, including
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...
,
Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...
and
Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...
. CAMP aimed at using journalism to raise awareness of the social, economic, demographic and other sources of tension in Fergana. The three founder of the Caucasus Media Institute were all engaged in the CAMP, getting rich insight into the mechanisms and limitations post Soviet media culture. The readiness of
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is an office-level agency in the federal administration of Switzerland, and a part of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Together with other federal offices, SDC is responsible for ...
to support a media development initiative gave the possibility to design the precise content of the initiative. During 2001, the founders conducted needs-assessment missions in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, looking at media development and its resources. in late 2001, SDC agreed to fund the project, and in February 2002 Vicken Cheterian moved from Geneva to Yerevan and started the logistic preparations together with
Mark Grigorian Mark Grigorian (, ; April 29, 1900 – January 10, 1978) was a Soviet Armenian Neoclassical architect. Life Born in Nakhichevan-on-Don, southern Russia, Grigorian moved to Soviet Armenia in 1924. He graduated from the Yerevan State University in ...
. In April 2002, Alexander Iskandaryan and Nina Iskandaryan joined the team by moving to Yerevan from Moscow. The Main Training Programme started in October 2002, with twelve novice journalists coming from three countries- Armenia, Moldova and Russia (Republic of Chechnya). The students took courses and did internships at local media organizations combining schooling and practice. From its first year, CMI was more than a journalism school. The work of the Research and Publication unit focused on issues of regional interest, including elections, migration, religion and politics, nation building and conflict resolution. Though based in Yerevan, CMI began to operate on a regional scale using a multicultural approach to education. It had interns from various countries, including the U.S., the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland, and students from Armenia, Georgia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Jordan, Southern Russia (Chehcnya, Daghestan, Karachevo-Cherkessia, Karbadino-Balkaria and North Ossetia) and de facto states such as Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and South-Ossetia. For the 2003 parliamentary and presidential elections, the CMI published trilingual elections guides (Armenian, English, Russian) for journalists and observers. The CMI soon started working on photojournalism. In 2003, the Amsterdam-based
World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization holds the annual World Press Photo Contest for press photography. Since 2011, World Press Photo has orga ...
(WPP) partnered with the CI to bring its yearly exhibition to Armenia for the first time and in 2004, the cooperation was developed into yearly courses. CI invited renowned Armenian photojournalist Ruben Mangasaryan to supervise the courses with the methodological support of WPP; world-famous photo-journalists came to Yerevan and taught classes to CMI students, and the WPP exhibition visited Armenia three more times. The project brought a new visual culture to Armenia and formed a new approach to photojournalism among the young generation. Ruben prematurely died in March 2009 yet the impact of the work he did will persist for decades. In 2004, the CMI launched a unique format of ''Yearly Caucasus Conferences'' which analyse regional developments of the previous year. The papers presented in these conferences are collected and published in a special series called ''the Caucasus Yearbook''. Fourteen volumes of the Caucasus Yearbook have already been published, providing rich analytical material and information about the current history of the region. The Yearly Conferences and the Caucasus yearbook series constitute part of the CMI efforts to develop Caucasus
Area Studies Area studies, also known as regional studies, is an interdisciplinary field of research and scholarship pertaining to particular geographical, national/ federal, or cultural regions. The term exists primarily as a general description for what a ...
. In 2008, the direction of the CMI decided to rename the institute to simply the "''Caucasus Institute''" or ''CI'', to reflect it diverse activities, including research on contemporary politics, Caucasus area studies, advocacy and consulting. #


References

{{Authority control Think tanks established in 2002 2002 establishments in Armenia