S. Frederick Starr is Chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at the American Foreign Policy Council. Beginning his career in archaeology in Turkey, he went on to serve as founding chairman of the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies at The Wilson Center, vice-president of Tulane University, and president of Oberlin College and the Aspen Institute. His two dozen books and hundreds of other writings focus on the interaction of culture and politics and cover fields as diverse as architecture, diplomacy, history, political science, and music. His pioneering Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia’s Golden Age sparked worldwide interest in the achievements of Central Asian civilization during its greatest era.