GEORGIA’S PRISON ABUSE SCANDAL AND ITS IMPLICATIONS
By Svante E. Cornell (9/19/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The release of graphic videos of grave prisoner abuse in Georgia’s penitentiary system could not come at a worse time for the ruling party, less than two weeks before the October 1 parliamentary elections. The episode, inadvertently, is highly indicative of both the strengths and weaknesses of Georgia’s political system. On the one hand, it is aggravating that this type of abuse could go on without high-level intervention in spite of repeated criticism from domestic and foreign watchdogs alike.
POST-2014 AFGHANISTAN: A SECURITY DILEMMA FOR ITS NORTHERN NEIGHBORS
By Murod Ismailov (9/5/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In light of the announced withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan by 2014, one expert made the adequate observation that “the Central Asian states are left confused, but not surprised.” The one issue causing the most confusion is the role of the Taliban movement in shaping the political landscape of Afghanistan after 2014. There are currently more questions than answers regarding this issue, which should be clarified to provide the Central Asian states with clues about how to deal with the movement when foreign troops leave the country.
EXPLAINING THE CONFLICT IN EASTERN TAJIKISTAN
By Alexander Sodiqov (9/5/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Triggered by the murder of a senior security official, a conflict has recently erupted between government forces and former warlords in eastern Tajikistan. Although many different factors might have played into the government’s decision to order the military operation, at its core the intrusion aimed at completing the regime’s long-term agenda of eradicating former opposition commanders. By ordering the military operation in GBAO, the central government has demonstrated that it will no longer permit former opposition commanders or any other groups or individuals to rival the power of state organs in the country.
HAS THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION STARTED IN KYRGYZSTAN?
By Johan Engvall (9/5/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Kyrgyzstan’s new government has referred to corruption as the country’s most pressing problem, indicating the need to prioritize anti-corruption reforms. A new Anti-Corruption Agency has been established within the State Committee for National Security to lead the work. Criminal cases were recently initiated against two members of parliament as well as a minister, raising the question of whether a serious fight against corruption has finally begun in the country.
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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.