The major international conference "The Caucasus and Central Asia: Theoretical, Cultural, and Political Challenges" will be held between July, and 4 of 2009 at the UK University of Birmingham. As the organizational committee of the conference told a PanARMENIAN.Net, the purpose of the event is to create more balanced and full perception about Caucasus and Central Asia, the conference seeks to generate a more balanced and comprehensive understanding of the Caucasus and Central Asia by providing historic, cultural, social, and political perspectives on these strategically important regions.

The two-day inter-disciplinary conference is a founding event of the research Group on the Caucasus and Central Asia, formed by academics and Ph.D. students from across the University of Birmingham. It brings together a wide range of panelists, including policy-makers, CEELBAS-network academics, other distinguished scholars and Ph.D. students specializing in these areas. Among the main speakers are: Vicken Cheterian (Geneva), John Colarusso (Ontario), Moshe Gammer (Tel Aviv), Ashirbek Muminov (Almaty), Domitilla Sagramoso (London), Thomas de Waal (London).

The conference is organized with financial assistance from the Centre for East European Language Based Area Studies (CEELBAS); the ASSC Seed Corn Funding of the College of Social Sciences and the Department of Political Sciences of the University of Birmingham.