FINANCING RUSSIA’S CENTRAL ASIAN EXPANSION
By Gregory Gleason (11/3/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: More than a decade of experience of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) demonstrates the substantial barriers facing integration among the Eurasian countries. The CIS was originally established in 1991 for two purposes—to contribute to the collective security of the post-Soviet countries and to maintain the “common economic space” of the Soviet period. The CIS’s economic purpose proved more challenging than its framers anticipated.ARE AFGHANISTAN’S ELECTIONS A WATERSHED?
By Stephen Blank (10/20/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND:Many of the fears cited above remain valid, even if the conclusion they seemingly pointed to has not taken place. NATO still does not have enough troops outside of Kabul and members are stalling on effecting major command reforms that would unite this force with the American led force and thus ensure unity of command, as well as multiplying those forces’ strike and peace support capabilities. There seems to be no good reason for this stalling and undoubtedly NATO secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is tired of going around with a begging bowl, to use his words, to get members to contribute to a commitment which they freely made.RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE IN TAJIKISTAN INAUGURATED
By Hooman Peimani (10/20/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND:The Soviet Union’s fall ended Russia’s military presence in most of the Central Asian and Caucasian countries. Moscow maintained some of its bases in Georgia and Armenia, while keeping a small number of troops in the Central Asian countries, excluding Uzbekistan, to guard their international borders as their respective military forces in-formation were unable to perform the task. As a result, Russia ended up with a limited degree of military presence in its former Asian republics in the early 1990s.A STRONG JAPANESE INITIATIVE IN CENTRAL ASIA
By S. Frederick Starr (10/20/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND:In late August Japan unveiled a major new initiative with respect to the five countries of Central Asia formed after the collapse of the USSR. Since 1992 Japan has pursued an active if low-keyed policy of supporting economic and social development in the new states of Central Asia. Down to 2002 it had allocated a total of $2.Visit also
Staff Publications
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, Greater Central Asia as A Component of U.S. Global Strategy, October 2024.
Analysis Laura Linderman, "Rising Stakes in Tbilisi as Elections Approach," Civil Georgia, September 7, 2024.
Analysis Mamuka Tsereteli, "U.S. Black Sea Strategy: The Georgian Connection", CEPA, February 9, 2024.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell, ed., Türkiye's Return to Central Asia and the Caucasus, July 2024.
Book Svante E. Cornell, ed., "The Changing Geopolitics of Central Asia and the Caucasus" AFPC Press/Armin LEar, 2023.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell and S. Frederick Starr, Stepping up to the “Agency Challenge”: Central Asian Diplomacy in a Time of Troubles, July 2023.
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, U.S. Policy in Central Asia through Central Asian Eyes, May 2023.