About

•  Cooperated with Professor Charles Fairbanks, School of Advanced International Studies, Paul H. Nitze School of Diplomacy, Johns Hopkins University and former Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights under President Reagan, and Dennis Culkin, USAID, to organize a relief effort for Chechnia,  June – September 1996. 

•  Worked with USAID and with the government of the Republic of Adygheya, Russian Federation, to organize pilot missions for helping maimed and injured victims of the Chechen war by establishing medical and rehabilitation centers in the North Caucasus and South Russia.  September – November 1995. 

•  Consulted for Open Society Institute, Forced Migration Project, "Repatriation in Georgia," (written by Kathleen Hunt), March. 1995. 

•  Consulted for the World Rehabilitation Fund, New York, New York, regarding their manufacturing of orthoses and prostheses in Yerevan, Armenia.  August – September 1994. 

•  Advised Ambassador Madeleine Albright's office regarding refugee matters in Abkhazia – Georgia.  September 1994. 

•  Worked with Dr. Diane Roazen of University of Massachusetts, Boston, and with the US Department of State and USAID in arranging for a visa for a child to be flown to the USA for heart surgery (the eight-year-old son of a cabinet minister of the Chechen government).  May – August 1994. 

•  Initiated a program with USAID and the United Methodist Committee on Relief to bring maimed women and children to a hospital in Yerevan (Armenia), Eraboni, which had advanced plastic surgery facilities, March – September 1994.  This project, in victims from both sides were thrown together and shared in their own rehabilitation, served as the nucleus for what has since become, under Dr. Manoog Kaprielian, the world-wide War Victim's Project, which has had notable success because of its practice of shared rehabilitation. 

•  Consulted for Human Rights Watch/Helsinki, both with their New York and Washington branches, proofing their reports on various conflicts in the Caucasus (written by Christopher Panico), 1993. 

•  Inspected a refugee facility housing Abkhazian orphans and widows, and examined some of the wounded children from the Abkhaz – Georgian War, in Maikop, Adygheya, Russian Federation.  August 1993. 

•  Advised the second Abkhazian Human Rights Mission to Washington, 24-26 February 1993.   

•  Participant in the “Breakaway section on the Caucasus,” at the Carter Center, Emory University, International Negotiation Network Consultation, 2nd annual consultation. Exploratory talks between the Georgians and Abkhazians were begun as a result of my efforts.  17-19 February 1993. 

•  Lobbied members of the U.S. Congress for human rights issues with Mr. Joseph Cella for the Abkhaz American Human Rights Committee.  4-5 February 1993.

•  Advisor on human rights and strategic matters concerning the Caucasus to the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). 1992-3. 

•  Advisor on human rights and strategic matters concerning the Caucasus to the High Commissioner on Nationalities, UN, The Hague.  1992-3. 

•  CSCE (United States Congress), advisor on human rights and strategic matters concerning the Caucasus, (1992-3).

•  Consulted with US Department of Defense, 2004 – present. 

•  Consulted with Canadian Armed Forces in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 2006 – 2007. 

•  Consultant, RAND Corporation.  January – June, 2006. 

•  Panelist, Roundtable: Chechnya [sic]: Past, Present, Future, Central Eurasian Studies Society – VI, Boston University, 30 September – 2 October 2005. 

•  Consulted with members of RAND Corporation on stability in the Caucasus, February – May 2005. 

•  Advised the Chechen Foreign Minister in exile, Ilyas Akhmadov, 3 December 2004. 

•  Contractual Consultant, responsible for the Caucasus, United States Department of State, 1 April 2001 -31 March 2002. 

•  Advised Foreign Affairs on a continual basis regarding the Caucasus since early 1999. 

•  I advised United States Department of State on possible refugee and humanitarian programs in Chechnya and elsewhere in the North Caucasus.  4 November 1999. 

•  Advised the First Secretary of the Japanese Embassy, Washington, D.C., Dr. Masayuki Miyamoto, on conditions in the Caucasus.  4 November 1999. 

•  Advised State Department and the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University (Washington campus, Paul H. Nitze School of Diplomacy), on developments in the Caucasus.  September - November  1999 

•  Served as a diplomatic back channel between the Russians and Chechens regarding deteriorating relations and the prospects for war. September 1999. 

•  Upon request of the Russian Embassy in Washington I advised then Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin about the dangers of renewing conflict with Chechen Fundamentalist Moslems.  June 1999. 

•  Upon request of the Russian Embassy in Washington I have advised President Boris Yeltsin regarding an upcoming meeting between him and President Aslan Maskhadov on ways to strengthen the position of Maskhadov and the secularists in Chechnya, 22 April.  This meeting was never held.  June 1999. 

•  Advised the Chechen Ambassador-designate to the United States, Löma Usmanov, on his country's position with regard to a range of political issues, both regarding relations with the West and with Russia.  3 March (in Ottawa), 4 June (by telephone) 1999. 

•  Discussed Chinese diplomatic overtures and oil politics in Central Asia with the Russian Embassy in Washington.  November 1998. 

•  Upon request the Russian Embassy in Washington I advised Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov regarding negotiations between him and the Chechen president, Aslan Maskhadov, resulting in a successful parley between the two, 8 and 27 October 1998.  August – September 1998. 

•  Advised the Atlantic Council of the United States (NATO) on the Caucasus and Central Asia.  18-20 March 1998.           

•  Advised the Russian Embassy in Washington, D. C., regarding the unrest in Chechnya and the neighbouring Republic of Daghestan.  8 January 1998. 

•  Advised the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., regarding the visit of the Chechen President, Aslan Maskhadov, to the United States, 5-21 November, with particular emphasis on understanding American motives in this sensitive matter and in how best to react to this potentially gross breach of diplomatic protocol and how to avoid serious deterioration in Russian - American relations.  1997.

 •  Memorandum of policy recommendations to Stephen Lee, Director, Canadian Centre for Foreign Policy Development on the Caucasus, Central Asia, and China.  October 1996. 

•  Advised the Chechen "Foreign Ministry" regarding their accord with Moscow.  September 1996. 

•  Advised Aleksandr Lebed, head of the Russian Security Council, regarding negotiations with the Chechens.  August 1996.

•  Wrote memoranda to the Department of State and the National Intelligence Council urging a reappraisal of Aleksandr Lebed.  This led to a reversal of a previous, strongly negative assessment.  My more balanced assessment of him was vindicated by his success in reaching a truce with the Chechens.  It was also influential in that it set the basis for his visit to Washington in November, and to his attendance at President Clinton's inaugural ball in January 1997.  July 1996. 

•  Advised an official, Andreas Weichert, of Foreign Affairs, regarding matters in the Caucasus.  (He was posted to Georgia in January 1997.)   June – December 1996. 

•  Member of The Atlantic Council, Working Group on Policy Formation for Central Asia, The Program on International Security, contributing to an effort to formulate American and Western interests in inner Eurasia and its new states.  April 1996 – March 2000. 

•  Advised Dr. Emil Pain, Special Advisor to President Boris Yeltsin, regarding peace prospects in the Chechen war, with continuing advice given to the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., on this conflict. February - March 1996. 

•  Advised General Jokhar Dudaev on peace prospects prior to his assassination on April 21, 1996.  

•  Participated in preventive diplomacy negotiations between the Abkhazians and Georgians, entitled Finding Common Cause in the Caucasus, sponsored by the Center for Political Leadership and Participation, the Center for International Development and Conflict Management, and Partners in Conflict Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.  20  October 1995. 

•  Advised the OSCE mission to Grozny, and with Adam Wasserman, Policy Planning, State Department.  March 1995. 

•  Formulated peace initiatives for the late General Jokhar Dudaev of Chechnya, for Ambassador Thomas Pickering, U.S. Embassy, Moscow, and for officials of the Russian Embassy, Washington.  I am responsible for having suggested that Moscow deal with Chechen Field Commander (now President) Aslan Maskhadov. February 1995 to April 1996 

•  Advised (regarding the Russo-Chechen war)

            Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, U.S. Embassy, Moscow

            Thomas Graham, First Secretary, Political Section, U.S. Embassy, Moscow,

            George Kolt, National Intelligence Officer, Russia-Eurasia, National Intelligence Council, Washington, D.C.,

            Mark Nichols, head of the Emergency Chechnya group, USAID and Department of State, Washington, D.C., and

            the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

            January 1995 – August 1996. 

•  Advised Mr. Dennis Pluchinsky, US Department of State, Intelligence and Threat Analysis, Office of Diplomatic Security, regarding security issues in the Caucasus.  June –December 1994. 

•  The President of the Chechen-Ingush Society of North America, Prof. Mohammed Shashani, delivered my invited paper, "A Brief Comment Upon Chechen - Russian Relations," for me at an international conference in Grozny, capital of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic.  20-24  May 1994. 

•  Worked with the Center for Sustainable Democracy in Georgia (an affiliate of the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis and the Gorbachev Foundation).  May 1994. 

•  Worked with USIA to organize visits of Russian and Caucasian dignitaries to the United States.  May 1994. 

•  Advised Policy Planning, of State Department, and the National Intelligence Officer for Russia - Eurasia, National Intelligence Council on tensions in the North Caucasus.  7-20 March 1994. 

•  Delivered a briefing to a group at the United States Department of State regarding the Caucasus generally and Abkhazia and Georgia specifically.  I also consulted with a top official, Thomas Graham, in Policy Planning.  2 March 1994. 

•  Advised Vladislav Ardzinba, Chairman of Abkhazia and Stanislav Lakoba, Speaker of the Abkhazian Parliament, during their visit to the United Nations, Geneva and New York, February 1994 and March 1994. 

•  Advised the Secretary General of the United Nations, Dr. Butros-Ghali, as well as people at State Department and the National Intelligence Council, regarding Russian assistance in Bosnia.  I was told that this played a key role in recruiting Russian assistance in this conflict. 14 February 1994. 

•  I was instrumental in arranging a US tourist visa for Jokhar Dudaev, but misadventures in Istanbul precluding his utilizing it, January 1994. 

•  In March, July, and August 1993 I issued a report on current happenings and their possible significance, entitled "Caucasus Update," on an occasional basis to a circle of twenty-five interested officials, analysts, and scholars. 

•  Advised the Second Secretary, Political Section, United States Embassy, Moscow on the Caucasus. for in this capacity, I interviewed:

            Alan Chochiev, Speaker of the Parliament, South Ossetia;

            Aleksandr Dzasokhov, MP in Russian Parliament;

            Igor Akhba, Plenipotentiary for Abkhazia in Russia;

            Aleks Iskandarian, Armenian journalist;

            Alan Kasaev, Ossetian journalist, head of Caucasus Research Center;

            Musa Shanibov, President, Confederation of Caucasian Peoples;

            Anatoli Emouzov, Foreign Minister, Kabardino-Balkaria;

            Sergei Akopov, Chief of Protocol, Kabardino-Balkaria;

            Svetlana Danilova, MP in Kabardino-Balkarian Parliament and leader of the Circassian Jewish Community of Nalchik;

            Aslan Jarimov, President of Adygheya;

            Ruslan Panush, Foreign Minister, Adygheya.  August 1993. 

•  Advised Dr. Yuri Kalmykov, Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation, former PM of the Russian Parliament, President of the International Circassian Association, representing the Confederation of Caucasian Peoples in Washington, 24-26 February 1993. 

•  The Voice of America, the United States Information Agency, advisor on the Caucasus, 1992. 

•  Library of Congress (Foreign Affairs and national Defence division), advisor on strategic matters concerning the Caucasus, (1992-3) 

•  United States Department of State (to the Russian Sub-Desk of the Independent States and Commonwealth Affairs Desk, and to the Strategic Planning office), advisor on strategic matters concerning the Caucasus, (1992-3). 

•  The first Abkhazian Human Rights Mission to Washington, D.C., (head delegate Dr. Natela Akaba), advisor, accompanying the group on their rounds of meetings and placing their position into a wider Caucasian context for various officials, 4-10 December 1992. 

•  The Republic of Adygheya (Russian Confederation), advisor to President. Aslan Jarim(ov), June, 1992.

• Member, Board of Directors, Nassip Foundation (Circassian), 2012
• Member, American Anthropological Association, 2011 – 12
• Member, Origins Institute, 2007 
• Mythology Book Review Editor, in collaboration with Dean Miller, Journal of Indo-European Studies, June 7, 2005 – present.
• Member, Board of Directors, The Atlantic Council of Canada, November 2002 - present (general member from 2000)
• Member, Central Eurasian Studies Society, October 2000 – present
• Member, Board of Directors, Central Eurasian Studies Society, January 2001 -January 2003
• Advisory Board on Central Asia and the Caucasus, The Atlantic Council of the United States, March 1998 - 2000
• Advisory Board, U.S. - Azerbaijan Council, February 1997 - 2000
• Editorial Board, Cryptozoology, January 1997 – 2003
• Honorary member of the Cherkess Cultural Society of Holland (1990)
• Senior Research Associate, Institute for the Study of Human Issues (ISHI), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1979-1982)

Macro-Dravidian, evidence for a Dravidian-like substrate in the ancient eastern Mediterranean, Anatolia, southern Caucasus, and Middle East.  (research notes) 

Further Pontic (Indo-European – Northwest Caucasian) cognates. (research notes) 

Further super-phyletic links across Eurasia.  (research notes) 

Linguistics and the Study of Culture (278 page MS)

Fieldwork

            Ubykh, (1994-present)

            Ashkharwa Abkhaz, (1994-1995)

            Kubachi, a language of the Northeast Caucasian family (1992)

            Bzhedukh, Abadzakh and Shapsegh West Circassian (1973 - present)

            Kabardian East Circassian (1984 - present)

            Digoron Ossetic (1969-1972)

            Briefly with

                  Khasi (1986)

                  Tamil (1979)

                  Bzyb Abkhaz (1976, 1992, 1993, 1996)

                  Yoruba (1976)

                  Farsi (1974)

                  Tuareg (1973)

                  Dinka (1973)

                  Galla (1972)

                  Georgian (1971)

                  Western Armenian (1969).

“The Typology of the Gutturals,” opening address, Back(ing), Sorbonne – Nouvelle, 2 – 4 May, 2012. 

“A Proto-Myth, the Storm God,” International Association for Comparative Mythology, 10 – 12 October 2011, Strasbourg, France. 

“Some Historical Links between South and Northwest Caucasian,” Central Eurasian Studies Society XII, 16 – 18 September 2011, Columbus, Ohio 

“Sochi and the Circassians, the Olympics of 2014,” Political Science Association, 19 – 21 April 2011, London, UK 

“A very Peculiar War,” invited talk for the workshop, “Revolutions, Elections, and Politics in Post-Soviet Georgia, at the Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, Munk School of Global Affairs, Centre for University of Toronto, 24 September 2010. 

“Ancient Ethnonyms in the Caucasus,” invited talk, International Conference on the Caucasus, hosted by the Centre for Russian, Soviet and Central and Eastern European Studies, St. Andrew University, Fife, Scotland, 16 – 17 April 2010. 

“Nart Sagas from the Caucasus,” invited talk, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, conference entitled “Sound Scapes of the Spirit, Cosmology and Sound Art from the Black to Aral Seas,” sponsored by the Russian, East European and Eurasian Center and the Department of Music, 8-9 April, 2010. 

“What the Comparative Method has to Tell Us,” invited talk, Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, 2 March 2010. 

“What’s in a Name? Pedigree, Prestige, and Power in the Folklore of the Caucasus,” invited talk at the Program in Russian and Eurasian Studies, series, The Caucasus: Zones of Contestation., 27 October, 2009. 

Discussant, sections on Ethnicity and Language, (Friday 9 October), and Georgian Anthropology and Literature (10 October), Central Eurasian Studies Society, X, 9 – 11 October. Munk Centre, University of Toronto, 2009. 

“Regional Realities in the South Caucsus,” invited talk, at the conference Independence of Abkhazia and Prospects for the Caucasus, held at Bilgi University and friends of Abkhazia, Istanbul, 30 – 31 May, 2009.

“Dark Conspiracies, Evil Intentions, and Wickedness, or How the World Works.”  Invited talk to the Science Students for Peace/Pugwash, 10 March 2009. 

“The Troubled Feast,” talk presented at the conference, Myths, Tales, and Legends, held at the University of Edinburgh, 20 – 22 February. 

“Who are the Circassians,” invited lecture at a conference, The Past, Present, and Future of the Circassians, a conference sponsored by the European Union.  6 October 2008. 

“The Wonders and Importance of the Circassian Language,” invited lecture at a conference, The Past, Present, and Future of the Circassians, a conference sponsored by the European Union.  6 October 2008. 

Address to the young adults at the Circassian Educational Foundation, invited lecture, 31 May, 2008. 

“The Wonders of Circassian,” talk delivered at and televised locally from William Paterson University (Nart TV), Paterson, New Jersey, 1 June 2008.

__________ with Walter Comins –Richmond, The Deportation of the Circassians from the Caucasus to the Ottoman Empire, “Russia and the Circassians: an Internal Problem or an International Matter?”  The Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, The John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, in cooperation with The Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, the Jamestown Foundation, and the Circassian Cultural Institute.  Morning session, 8 April 2008.

and

Moderator, afternoon session, held at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University. 

“Try to Take Over the World.” A talk on political and strategic concepts given to the Science Students for Peace/Pugwash, McMaster University, 23 January 2008. 

“The Hunters, (Indo-European proto-myths: the Storm God, the Good King, the Mighty Hunter),” at The Deep History of Stories, University of Edinburgh, 28-30 August 2007 

“The Narts of the Caucasus. a Reconstruction of the Indo-European Storm God,” at “The Caucasus: Directions and Disciplines, University of Chicago, 17 – 19 May 2007.

“Central Asia,”  invited lecture in the series, Great Decisions, at the International Institute of Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, 29 January 2007.  Sponsored by The Canadian Consulate General, Buffalo, New York.  

“The Narts of the Caucasus,” invited lecture, Harvard University, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, 4 December 2006

 “Islam in the Caucasus,” invited talk for Princeton University,  Middle East Program, Outreach series, 12 April 2006. 

“Caucasian Nart Heroes and their Links beyond the Caucasus,”  invited open address to The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, conference on Ethnic and Religious Communities in the Caucasus,  27 - 28 March 2006. 

An Isogloss Model for the Spread of Conflict: the Caucasus as a Case Study,  Association for the Study of Nationalities – 11^th annual meeting,  The Harriman Institute, Columbia University, 23 – 25 March 2006. 

“The Caucasus,” invited talk for Princeton University,  Middle East Program, Outreach series, 5 February 2006. 

 “Proto-Myth: Reconstructing Gods and Heroes,” invited paper, Conference in Celtic and Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh, 22 – 23 October 2005. 

“Symmetry Breaking in Circassian,” Central Eurasian Studies Society – VI, Boston University, 30 September 2 October 2005. 

“How Big is Language, or Mind over Matter,” invited lecture, Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 22 April 2005.

“Historical Mythology, or How to retrieve the Beliefs of  Our Ancestors,” invited lecture, Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 21 April 2005. 

“Nart Sagas from the Caucasus, Some Links across Eurasia,” Silk Road Foundation Lecture Series, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 9 December 2004. 

“Creeping Chaos across the North Caucasus,” Central Asia and Caucasus Center, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C., 1 December 2004. 

“Pontic, a phylum containing Indo-European and Northwest Caucasian, difficulties in distant comparison,” Cornell Linguistics Colloquium, 11 November 2004.

“Ergativity in the Caucasus,” Cornell Linguistics Colloquium, 7 October 2004. 

“The Caucasus: a God and Three Heroes,” invited talk at VI-th Harvard Roundtable on the Ethnogenesis of South and Central Asia,” Harvard University, 7- 10 May 2004. 

“Counter Examples in Linguistics,” Seventh Bilingual Workshop on Theoretical Linguistics, McMaster University, 12 December 2003.

“The Size of Language,” public talk sponsored by the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, and by the Communication Studies Programme, McMaster University, 27 November 2003. 

“Altaic in the Context of Pontic, or Post-Nostratic,” Third Annual Conference of the Central Eurasian Studies Society, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 19 October 2002. 

“The American Response to September 11th, Its Imperatives and Its Implications,” inaugural address to the first Colonel Brian S. MacDonald Round Table, Atlantic Council of Canada, 28 September 2002. 

“Some Ethnonyms from the Caucasus,” second annual meeting of the Central Eurasian Studies Society, 11-14 October 2001. “The Caucasus in Mid-2001,” lecture and seminar given at United States Department of State, 1 August 2001.

“Russia and the Near Abroad: Fault Lines for Conflict,” lecture delivered at the conference, NATO and the ‘New’ Russia, The Atlantic Council of Canada, Spring Conference 2001,28 April, Trinity College, University of Toronto. 

“Circassian Culture and History,” lecture delivered (with consecutive translation into Arabic) before the Circassian Benevolent Association, Wayne, New Jersey, 23 February 2001. 

“The Nart Sagas of the Caucasus, an Ancient Eurasian Epic Tradition,” inaugural lecture delivered at the First Annual Conference of the central Eurasian Studies Society, University of Wisconsin, Madison, September 28 – October 1, 2000. 

Obstacles to State Formation in the Northwest Caucasus, talk given at the session, State Formation in the North Caucasus: History, Prospects and Problems, 5th Annual World Convention, Association for the Study of Nationalities, held at Columbia University, 14 April, 2000. 

Putin and the Chechen War, at the public seminar on "The Russian Presidential Election: Significance and Prospects," at The Atlantic Council of the United States, 27 March 2000.  I organized this seminar at the request of ACUS. 

The Myths of Russian Identity, at the public seminar on "Russian Identity and Russian Politics: the Russian National Psyche on the Eve of Duma Elections," at The Atlantic Council of the United States, 16 December 1999.  I organized this seminar at the request of ACUS. 

The Regional Impact of the Current Chechen Crisis, at the closed seminar Crisis in Chechnia, United States Department of State, Division of Intelligence and Research, and The National Intelligence Council, 3 November 1999.

Dumézil and the Details, talk on comparative mythology delivered at the American Anthropological Association annual convention, Philadelphia, 2 December 1998. 

Oil Politics and War in the North Caucasus.  Oil in the Caucasus, Near East Department, Princeton University, 8-10 May 1998.

The Geography of Stability in the North Caucasus.  U.S. State Department Seminar, 7 April 1998. 

The Origins of Language.  Symposum "Origins", McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, 7 March 1998. 

Vedic Tvastr in the Nart Sagas.  VIII Conference on the Cultures of Caucasia, The University of Chicago, 10 May 1997. 

More Pontic.  Non-Slavic Languages - 10, The University of Chicago, 10 May 1997. 

Prospects for Stability in the Caucasus.  Center for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 9 May 1997. 

The Nart Sagas of the Caucasus.  Department of Slavic Studies and Folklore Program, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 8 May 1997. 

Prediction and Policy: Culture and Nationalist Conflicts,  Centre for Peace Studies, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, 7 November 1996.

The Chechen War and the Death of Dudaev. First Annual Convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities, Remaking National Identities, at the Harriman Institute, Columbia University, 26-28 April 1996. 

Languages of the Dead.  Bronze and Iron Age Mummies of Eastern Central Asia, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 19-21 April 1996. 

The Ancient Caucasus Region.  International Conference on the Archaeology of the Black Sea.  McGill University, 26 January 1996.

The War in Chechnia.  Department de Antropologie, Université de Montréal, 25 January 1996. 

Two lectures: (1) Between Seas and Continents, (2) Many Languages, Many Nations.  The Smithsonian Institution and the Middle East Institute, Georgia and the North Caucasus: a Profile of Complexity, two lectures   21 October 1995. 

Cultural Factors in the North Caucasus Political Scene. Caucasus Conference, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Aspen Institute, University of Maryland, 8 - 9th June 1995. 

Subjects in Circassian. Ninth International Non-Slavic Languages Conference, University of Chicago, 5 May 1995. 

Ubykh Lives!  Seventh International Conference on the Cultures of Caucasia, University of Chicago, 6 May 1995. 

“The Dynamics of the Caucasus,” for The Harriman Institute, Columbia University, April 20, 1995, New York. 

The North Caucasus and Its Prospects for War. The Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies and the Russian Area Studies Program of Georgetown University, The Crisis in Chechnia and the Russian Federation,  Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., 17 March 1995. 

Dynamics of the North Caucasus. The National Intelligence Council and the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, U.S. Department of State, Regional Implications of the Chechen Conflict, Meridian International Center, Washington, D.C., 24 February 1995.                      

The Logic of Long Distance Comparison.  American Anthropological Association, 93rd Annual Meeting: invited session, Language, Culture and Biology in Prehistoric Central Eurasia: re-establishing the links, Atlanta, Georgia, 30 November - 4 December 1994. 

The Afterlife of Ubykh: Linguistics Nationalism and Language Maintenance. North West Caucasian Linguistics Conference in memory of Tevfik Esenç and Georges Dumézil, The Language Center, Bogaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey, 10-12 October 1994.                                                                                                                      

Tropes and Truth in the Caucasus.  Delivered at the Southern Anthropological Society, Symposium on Anthropological Contributions to Conflict Resolution, April 27-30, 1994. 

The War in Abkhazia.  The Washington Seminar on the Collapse of Communism, The Johns Hopkins University, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Foreign Policy Institute, September 20, 1993. 

Parallels between the Nart sagas and the Old Norse Volsunga saga: Pataraz and Sigurd.  Sixth International Conference on the Cultures of Caucasia, University of Chicago, 16 May 1993. 

Reflexives and Reciprocals in Circassian.  Eighth International Non-Slavic Languages Conference University of Chicago, 13-15 May 1993. 

Abkhazia.  School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (The British Council, Society for Central Asian Studies), 23 April 1993.

The Nart Hero as Victim and Avenger.  Societas Caucasologica Europæa, VIth Colloquium, Maikop, Republic of Adygheya, Russian Federation, 23 June 1992.

Circassian Nart 'Wa(r)daana' and Germanic 'Wodan' (Odin). Fifth International Conference on the Cultures of the Caucasus, University of Chicago, 25 May 1991. 

Microcosmos: the Circassian Verb, Seventh International Conference on the Non-Slavic Languages of the USSR, University of Chicago, 24 May 1991. 

The Circassians, Canadian Anthropology Society, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, 10 May 1991. 

Linguistics and Cryptozoology, Fabulous Beasts, Fact and Folklore, The Folklore Society (U.K.), and The International Society of Cryptozoology, University of Surrey, Surrey, Guilford, U. K., 21 July, 1990.       

How Many Consonants does Ubykh Have? Societas Caucasiologica Europæa, V-th Caucasian Colloquium, University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies, 27 June 1990.

 The Women of the Nart Sagas: the Satanaya Cycle, Fourth International Conference on the Cultures of the Caucasus, University of Chicago, 13 May 1989. 

Some Possible Cognates between Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Northwest Caucasian, Sixth International Conference on the Non-Slavic Languages of the USSR, University of Chicago, 12 May 1989. 

Language and Infinity, The Learneds, Canadian Linguistic Association, McMaster University, 31 May 1987. 

Some Interesting Women of the Circassian Nart Sagas: Lady Tree and Amazon, the Forest Mother, Third International Conference on the Cultures of Caucasia, University of Chicago, 16 May 1987.               

Proto-Northwest Caucasian (or how to crack a very hard nut), Fifth International Congress on the Non-Slavic Languages of the USSR, University of Chicago, 15 May 1987.       

Affinities of the Northwest Caucasian Nart Sagas, Second International Conference on the Cultures of Caucasia, University of Chicago University of Chicago, 18 May 1985.

 How to Describe the Sounds of the Northwest Caucasian Languages, Fourth International Congress on the Non-Slavic Languages of the USSR, University of Chicago, 17 May 1985. 

Vowel Disharmony: Linguistic Contacts between the Northeastern Altaic, Paleosiberian and North American Indian Peoples.  31st International Congress of Human Sciences in Asia and North Africa, Tokyo, 1 September 1983. 

Parallels between the Circassian Nart Sagas, the Rg Veda, and Germanic Mythology. Canadian Association for Asian Studies, The Learneds, Vancouver, 4 June 1983. 

Circassian /-qa-/ Meets Semantic Algebra and Ergativity.  Third International Congress on the Non-Slavic Languages of the USSR, University of Chicago, 23 March 1983. 

Ethnographic Information on a Wild Man of the Caucasus.  Anthropology of the Unknown: Humanoid Monsters, Sasquatch and Similar Phenomena, University of British Columbia, 10-13 May 1978.       

Typology Pharyngeals and Pharyngealization: Caucasian Examples.  North American Conference on Afro-Asiatic Linguistics, VI, University of Toronto, 9-10 April 1978. 

Rightward wh-Movement in Circassian and the Nature of Transformations.  Niagara Linguistics Circle, Niagara University, Niagara Falls, New York, 7-8 April 1978. 

Languages of the North-West Caucasus.  The Languages and Literatures of the Non-Russian Peoples of the Soviet Union.  McMaster University, 22-23 October 1976. 

On Two-Vowel Systems, Linguistics Society of America, New York, 27-30 December 1974. 

Consonants with Advanced Tongue Root in the Northwest Caucasian Languages.  North East Linguistic Society,  V-th Annual Meeting, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 9-10 November 1974.