The Russia and Eurasia program undertakes projects that span research, analysis, assessment, and action. Its substantive focus encompasses all the regions of the former Soviet Union. In addition to projects and policy work, the program builds and maintains strategic networks of scholars and experts for its various initiatives. Most notably, the Program on New Approaches to Russian Security (PONARS) is a transnational network that unites American, Russian, Ukrainian, and other regional scholars in a collaborative program. The program’s regionally-focused work includes a Belarus Initiative, recently launched in order to monitor political developments in the lead-up to the 2006 presidential election and to consider how best to promote political reform and Belarus’ further integration with its neighbors. REP also conducts targeted work on Ukraine, organizing working groups and delegations and assessing strategies for U.S. and European engagement. The Caucasus Initiative maintains a regular focus on political, economic, and security issues in Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, through policy-relevant research and writing, as well as seminars with regional political elites, U.S. officials, and regional specialists. In addition to REP’s regional foci, the program undertakes projects on issues that transcend borders. Challenges of Human Rights, HIV/AIDS, democratization, and U.S. and Russian foreign policy are relevant across Eurasia. The program raises awareness of issues related to these topics; investigates their causes, nature, and consequences; and proposes solutions through a variety of meetings and publications.
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