By Kunduz Sydygalieva (6/7/2000 issue of the CACI Analyst)

BACKGROUND: One of the main goals of the Islamic rebels congregated on the Kyrgyz border is to facilitate drug trafficking from Afghanistan to Europe. Taliban-controlled Afghanistan has turned into a hotbed of international terrorism and a major source of the illegal narcotics trade. Today, Afghanistan has become a homeland for training terrorists and military mercenaries.

By Richard Giragosian (6/7/2000 issue of the CACI Analyst)

BACKGROUND: The month of May throughout the Transcaucasus region has been marked by a period of political volatility. A new prime minister and cabinet in Armenia, a newly revamped cabinet in Georgia, growing political tension in Azerbaijan, and internal political intrigue in the wake of a failed assassination attempt on the leader of Nagorno Karabagh, have all occurred in this past month. But most significant of all was the recent announcement by a consortium of international oil companies of the discovery of an extremely large offshore petroleum reserve in the northern sector of the Caspian Sea belonging to Kazakhstan.

By Christopher Boucek (6/7/2000 issue of the CACI Analyst)

BACKGROUND: The fate of Jewish communities living abroad has been an historical prime concern for Israel. Israeli policy makers have recently found themselves in the position of encouraging Jews not to immigrate to Israel. The abundance of fraudulent papers circulating in the former Soviet Union, the previously unknown scourge of organized crime (now epidemic in Israel), and the added strain to the state’s already tightly-stretched social welfare system, have all contributed to Tel Aviv’s desire to see Diaspora communities remain abroad.