Beyond Borat: Essentials on the Real Kazakhstan
Featuring:
The Middle East Institute is pleased to host Ambassador Elizabeth Jones and Martha Brill Olcott, two distinguished experts on Kazakhstan and Central Asia, to provide a primer on what Americans should understand about the real Kazakhstan, the topic of much controversy since the 2006 screening of the box-office hit comedy "Borat."
Ambassador Jones, Executive Vice President, APCO Worldwide, has extensive international experience in Europe, Eurasia, South Asia, and the Middle East. She spent 35 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, where she achieved the highest rank of Career Ambassador. She held numerous high-ranking positions, among them: Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, US Ambassador to Kazakhstan, and Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Martha Brill Olcott, Senior Associate with the Russian and Eurasian Program at Carnegie Endowment has followed interethnic relations in the former Soviet Union for more than 25 years. She is author of Central Asia's Second Chance, which examines the economic and political development of this strategically vital region in the context of the post 9/11 security threats.
