Democracy and Pluralism in the Muslim Areas of the Former Soviet Union

Greetings
Prof. Nili Cohen, Rector, Tel Aviv University
Prof. Shulamit Volkov, Head, School of History, Tel Aviv University

Richard Pomfret, University of Adelaide
Aid and Ideas: The Impact of Western Economic Support on the Muslim Successor States

Chair: Gabriel Gorodetsky, Director, Curiel Center,TAU
Moshe Gammer, TAU
Elements of Democracy in North Caucasian Society on the Eve of the Russian Conquest
Zhanylzhan Dzhunusova, Diplomatic Academy, The Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan
The Democratic Tradition in the Political History of Kazakhstan
Dov Yaroshevsky, TAU
Democracy and State in the People’s Soviet Republic of Khorezm,1920-1924

Chair: Jacob Landau, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Ayse-Azade Rorlich, University of Southern California
Perceptions of Self, Perceptions of the “Other”: Muslim Women and Russian Society at the Beginning of the 20th Century
Goga Khidoyatov, University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Tashkent
The Role of Tradition and Traditional Institutions in the Formation of Civil Society in Uzbekistan
Vladimir Khanin, TAU
The Political Clans of Kyrgyzstan

11:00-11:30 Coffee Break

Chair: Isabelle Kreindler, Haifa University
Pal Kolstoe, University of Oslo
Kazakhstani Control Mechanisms in a Bipolar Cultural and Demographic Situation
Vladimir Mesamed , Editorial Board, Centralnaja Azija i Kavkaz
Language Policy as a Yardstick of Democratization in Uzbekistan
Ainur Elebaeva, International University of Kyrgyzstan
Ethno-Political Processes in Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan

15:00-16:30 Session IV: Democracy in Central Asia: Tradition and Praxis

Chair: Yaacov Ro’i, TAU
Alexei Malashenko, Carnegie Center, Moscow
Tradition and Democracy in Central Asia
Vladimir Babak, TAU
The Process of Forming Political Parties and Movements in Post-Soviet Central Asia

16:30-17:00 Coffee Break

Chair: Aryeh Levin, former Israeli Ambassador to Russia
Neil Melvin, University of Leeds
The Roots of the New Authoritarianism in Central Asia
Farda Asadov, Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, Baku
Democracy and the Building of Civil Society in Azerbaijan: Irrevocability of Change or Temporary Diversion?

Chair: Shimon Stein, Deputy Director General, Israel Foreign Ministry
Ermuhamet Ertisbaev, Kazakhstan Presidential Institute of Strategic Studies
The Political Situation in Kazakhstan and the Parliamentary Elections of October 1999
Leonid Levitin, Former Advisor to President Akaev
Liberalization in Kyrgyzstan: President Akaev’s Variant
Saifiddin Juraev, Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies, Tashkent
Problems of Developing a Multiparty System in Uzbekistan
Saodat Olimova, Sharq Research Center, Dushanbe
Democratization in Tajikistan – Pros and Cons
Moderator: Alon Winer

Chair: Martin Kramer, Director, Dayan Center, TAU
Ildus Ilishev, University of Ufa
Nation-Building and Minority Rights in Post-Soviet Russia: The Case of Bashkortostan
Nedir Devlet , Marmara University
The Struggle between Moscow and Kazan: What Did Tatarstan Gain?
Enver Kisriev, Dagestani Academic Center
The Political Process in Dagestan: The Prospects For Democracy
Svante Cornell, University of Uppsala
Ethnicity, Instability and Politics: Democratic Transition in the Northwestern Caucasus

13:30-15:30 Lunch

Chair: Shimon Naveh, Director, Cummings Center, TAU
Grigorii Kosach, Moscow State University
Religion and Democracy in the Life of the Tatar Diaspora: the Post-Soviet Russian Muftiate
Aleksei Kudriavtsev, Institute of Oriental Studies, Moscow
“Wahhabism”: Problems of Religious Pluralism in the Northern Caucasus
Yaacov Ro’i , TAU
Must Islam in the FSU Be an Impediment to Democracy?