As we gear up for next month’s 2022 CAMCA Regional Forum which will be held in Washington, D.C., we thought it would be a fitting time to shed more light on the inspiration behind our Foundation’s unique regional focus on the CAMCA (Central Asia-Mongolia-Caucasus-Afghanistan) region, spanning from the South Caucasus to Mongolia.  

The Rumsfeld Foundation is pleased to announce the 10 professionals selected to participate in the Spring 2022 session of the CAMCA Fellowship Program.

Following the withdrawal of the U.S. military from Afghanistan, we are pleased to report that all our Fellowship alumni that were living in-country at the time were able to safely depart. While they settle into new realities across the globe and the people of Afghanistan continue to face many challenging circumstances, we'd like to take a moment to showcase a few of the talented Afghans within our alumni network and some of the important new projects and positions they have undertaken in recent months.

As we come to the close of what has been a uniquely challenging year, we want to express our gratitude for the outpouring of support received since Secretary Rumsfeld’s passing.  It goes without saying that we would not be where we are today without the vision, energy and generosity of our late founder, and of course his co-founder and beloved wife, Joyce. 

We were delighted to interview our Board members for this closing blog post of the year to provide an opportunity for our community to learn more about the terrific individuals at the Foundation’s helm. Read on for interesting insights like their favorite leadership lessons and what they’ve learned from working with our founder, as well as their passion for the Foundation’s work and much more.

After Secretary Rumsfeld’s passing, the Foundation was heartened to receive an outpouring of condolences and thoughtful reflections from our founder’s many friends and colleagues around the world. Among them were touching messages of gratitude from our Fellowship alumni and the military charity partners we have worked with over the years. This blog post includes a sample of such testimonials which speak to the significant and enduring impact that Rumsfeld had on the lives of so many. 

In lieu of the annual CAMCA Regional Forum, throughout the week of June 21^st-25^th, the Foundation, in partnership with the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and the CAMCA Network, hosted the 2021 e-CAMCA Forum, a virtual conference for the CAMCA Forum community centered around the theme: “Economic Prospects of the CAMCA Region.”

In this post we are pleased to share an inside look into the workings of our Central Asia-Caucasus Fellowship Program’s alumni body, the CAMCA Network, and the talented individuals that comprise its leadership, the CAMCA Network Board. We have been delighted to see the alumni of our program come together to develop an enduring community with such an important mission and we are excited about the prospective impact of their efforts on improving cooperation throughout the CAMCA region. We hope you enjoy learning more about the CAMCA Network from some of its current leadership below. 

This month marks a decade since the initial release of our founder’s memoir, Known and Unknown, originally published in February of 2011. Deemed “the first political memoir of the Information Age,” Rumsfeld’s personal account as a witness to over one-third of the history of the United States includes stories beginning from early childhood and spanning through his decades-long career.

To commemorate the book’s 10-year anniversary, we have compiled notable excerpts from Known and Unknown that highlight some of the experiences that have shaped our founder’s values and beliefs, eventually serving as inspiration for the mission and work of the Rumsfeld Foundation – to encourage leadership, public service and free political and economic systems at home and abroad.