EUROPEAN UNION HOLDS FOREIGN-MINISTERIAL CONSULTATIONS WITH THE CENTRAL ASIAN GROUP
By Robert M. Cutler (4/27/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In early April, Uzbekistan hosted the most recent EU-Central Asia ministerial meeting, where a high-level delegation from Brussels met with the foreign ministers of all five Central Asian countries and took the opportunity to hold one-to-one bilateral meetings with each of them. For the first time, energy has appeared in a significant place in the formal definition of the agenda for discussion at this level and in this forum. While the preparation and overall tenor of the meetings reflect a somewhat better sense of purpose on the part of Brussels, the EU’s policy remains plagued by difficulties of goal definition and bureaucratic coordination.
PROTAGONISTS REBUILD THEIR POLITICAL FOUNDATIONS FOLLOWING SPLIT IN CHECHNYA’S REBEL ORGANIZATION
By Kevin Daniel Leahy (4/27/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The dust has yet to settle entirely following the leadership controversy last August which pitted the putative leader of the Caucasus Emirate, Doku Umarov, against a group of erstwhile colleagues in Chechnya’s rebel organisation. Umarov’s steadfast refusal to relinquish his leadership position has not prevented his opponents in Chechnya from restructuring themselves politically and militarily. The leaders of this anti-Umarov constituency command sizeable support and can call upon the services of a number of militarily gifted field commanders.
AFGHANISTAN’S TRADE WITH CENTRAL ASIA REVIVES
By Nicklas Norling (4/27/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
A milestone has been reached in Afghanistan. For the first time in almost a century, Afghanistan’s regional trading network is up and running after the Soviet border split the region in 1917 and Afghan tradesmen are now trading with partners in all directions. Recent data from Afghanistan’s Central Statistics Organization (CSO) suggests that Afghanistan’s licit trade with the Central Asian republics is now surpassing trade with Pakistan and India.
SOCAR-DEPA GAS DEAL FAVORS ITGI AS AZERBAIJAN’S STRATEGIC CHOICE
By Gulmira Rzayeva (4/27/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The recent SOCAR-DEPA gas deal demonstrated Greece’s and Azerbaijan’s political support for ITGI at the highest level. The gas sale contract to Greece via Turkey implies the official opening of the Southern Corridor, and that the long-awaited strategic choice of SOCAR and the Shah Deniz Consortium will likely be ITGI and TAP. Thus, the Southern Gas Corridor could open with these two projects instead of Nabucco.
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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.