Martha Brill Olcott (born 1949) is a leading U.S. expert on Сentral Asia and the Caspian. She is a senior associate with the Russian and Eurasian Program at the Carneige Endowment for International Peace, co-directing the Carnegie Moscow Center's Project on Ethnicity and Politics in the former Soviet Union. She taught political science at Colgate University from 1975 until 1998. She joined the Carnegie Foundation in 1995. She previously served as a special consultant to Acting United States Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger and as director of the Central Asian American Enterprise Fund.
She received her graduate degrees from the University of Chicago.
She has criticized the amount of aid the U.S. government gives to Central Asian entities, saying, "The United States has had declining influence in the area and this isn't going to stop it. "She also says the government focuses too much on Afghanistan.
Olcott has commented on the effects of the global financial crisis on Central Asia. She has indicated her support for economic development to continue here as an extension of economic integration with Russia and China, as well as an increase in aid and investment from international financial institutions.
Books: 1. Kazakhstan: Unfulfilled Promise;
2. Getting it wrong: Regional Cooperation and the Commonwealth of Independent States;
3. Russia after Communism;
4. The Kazakhs.
