RUSSIA AND ABKHAZIA DISPUTE BORDER DELIMITATION
By Emil Souleimanov (5/11/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
A territorial dispute has recently worsened the relationship between Moscow and its committed ally in the South Caucasus, Georgia’s separatist republic of Abkhazia, whose independence was recognized by the Russian authorities less than three years ago. In an attempt to delimitate its state borders with Abkhazia, Moscow recently came up with a plan envisaging the de facto annexation of ca 160 square kilometers of Abkhaz soil, an initiative fiercely opposed by official Sukhumi. While Moscow would benefit from such territorial expansion ahead of the Sochi Olympics, forcing Abkhazia to cede territory could damage Moscow’s relations to Abkhazia as well as its other allies in the South Caucasus.
RUSSIA’S GEORGIA QUANDARY
By Stephen Blank (5/11/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
With the Russian Federation nearing the finish line in its marathon race to join the World Trade Organization, Moscow has restarted negotiations with Georgia. They will have a full agenda stemming from Russian actions before and during the war with Georgia in 2008. These talks are taking place because the Georgia is in a position to use its veto as a member of the WTO to blackball Russia’s membership.
WILL THE ‘PEOPLE’S IPO’ HELP ADDRESS SOCIAL POLARIZATION IN KAZAKHSTAN?
By Rafis Abazov and Dilara Istybayeva (5/11/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The recently announced “People's IPO”, a new round of public offerings by Kazakhstan's largest and most profitable corporations and companies was designed to address one of the country’s most divisive and contentious issues – the rise of extreme inequality between the very small class of nouveau riches who acquired former state companies for a song, and the large class (up to 70–80 percent) of impoverished citizens. The new ‘People's IPO’ immediately became the center of heated public debate in Kazakhstan. The main question is whether this bold and innovative act by Kazakhstan's government can address the fundamental problem of social inequality.
‘PEACE TO CAUCASUS’: A FAILING PEACE PROJECT
By Huseyn Aliyev (5/11/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The past years have seen increased conflict-related violence in the North Caucasus, which in conjunction with economic instability and social insecurity has endangered the Russian administration of the region. Amid official claims that the insurgents are close to elimination, the Russian government for the first time since the start of the second Chechnya war in 1999 initiated a peace-building project in the region. The project is officially named Peace to Caucasus and aims to bring peace and stability to the volatile region.
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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.