TURKMEN LEADER EMPHASIZES CENTRAL ASIAN UNITY IN GAS PRICE BID
By Gregory Gleason (12/15/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: The Bukhara summit of Turkmen President Saparmurad Niyazov and Uzbek President Islam Karimov last month marked the first meeting of the two presidents since an assassination attempt on the life of the Turkmen President in 2002 soured relations between the two Central Asian countries. Relations between the leaders have been tense ever since the November 25, 2002 assassination attempt on the Turkmen President’s life. Just a week after the assassination attempt the Turkmen police raided the Uzbek Ambassador’s residence in Ashgabat.ALL QUIET ON CHINA’S WESTERN FRONT? XINJIANG AND AFGHAN OPIATES
By Jacob Townsend (12/15/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: China gives its fight against the drug trade a high priority but its actions are overwhelmingly focussed on its borders with Myanmar. This is understandable, since until recently well over 90% of the opiates consumed in China came from the Golden Triangle. Broadly speaking, its law enforcement efforts have paid off and these have coincided with a decline in opium production in Myanmar and Laos.RUSSIA TO INVEST IN TAJIKISTAN
By R. Grant Smith (12/15/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: When Tajikistan became independent in 1991, Russia kept its 201st Motorized Rifle Division and its border forces there. The Tajik group that ended up controlling the government welcomed the assistance of these two in providing stability during the civil war and in securing the border with Afghanistan. Russia did not, however, offer substantial economic assistance, except for credits in the period immediately after the breakup of the USSR.IRAN PUSHES FOR POSITIVE POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT IN CENTRAL ASIA
By James Purcell Smith (12/1/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: In the early 1990s, immediately after the collapse of USSR, Iran adopted an assertive policy in a push to gain influence in Central Asia, both through export of its Islamic ideology, through economic ties, and implying its political agenda in a regional dimension under the aegis of international organizations. These efforts briefly brought the Islamist government in Tajikistan under Tehran’s wings in 1991-1992. Its defeat in the ensuing civil war transformed Iran’s policy into co-sponsorship of the Tajik peace dialogue on behalf of the United Tajik Opposition.Visit also
Staff Publications
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, U.S. Policy in Central Asia through Central Asian Eyes, May 2023.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, "Promise and Peril in the Caucasus," AFPC Insights, March 30, 2023.
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Putin's War In Ukraine and the Crimean War), 19fourtyfive, January 2, 2023
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Russia Needs Its Own Charles de Gaulle, Foreign Policy, July 21, 2022.
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, Rethinking Greater Central Asia: American and Western Stakes in the Region and How to Advance Them, June 2022
Oped Svante E. Cornell & Albert Barro, With referendum, Kazakh President pushes for reforms, Euractiv, June 3, 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell Russia's Southern Neighbors Take a Stand, The Hill, May 6, 2022.
Silk Road Paper Johan Engvall, Between Bandits and Bureaucrats: 30 Years of Parliamentary Development in Kyrgyzstan, January 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell, No, The War in Ukraine is not about NATO, The Hill, March 9, 2022.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, Kazakhstan’s Crisis Calls for a Central Asia Policy Reboot, The National Interest, January 34, 2022.
Book S. Frederick Starr and Svante E. Cornell, Strong and Unique: Three Decades of U.S.-Kazakhstan Partnership, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, December 2021.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell, S. Frederick Starr & Albert Barro, Political and Economic Reforms in Kazakhstan Under President Tokayev, November 2021.