GEORGIA TURNS THE TABLES ON RUSSIA
By Stephen Blank (2/2/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In November 2010, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced that Georgia renounced using force to recover its occupied territories in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. He further advocated resumption of dialogue with Russia and stated that Georgia would accept Russian membership in the World Trade Organization if Georgian border guards were posted in these territories, thereby recognizing Georgia’s sovereignty there. Saakashvili also urged the West to help foster a normalization of relations with Russia.
NORTH CAUCASIAN REBELS’ ECONOMIC POLICY DEFINED BY CONVENTIONALITY AND WISHFUL THINKING
By Kevin Daniel Leahy (2/2/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
As the security situation has worsened in the Northern Caucasus over the past several years, Russian political pundits have taken to theorizing as to what sort of state might emerge there should Moscow become unwilling – or perhaps unable – to maintain its suzerainty in the region. It might be assumed that any economic strategy embraced by this new state would be defined by the political viewpoint of its leadership. When it comes to formulating economic strategy, however, it would seem that Moscow bureaucrats, local pro-Moscow elites and public representatives of the rebel movement in the region are reading from the same manuals.
TURKMENISTAN SUSPENDS MAJOR MOBILE SERVICE OPERATOR
By Tavus Rejepova (2/2/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On December 21, 2010, Turkmenistan’s authorities suspended the license of the local branch of Russia’s major mobile service company Mobile TeleSystems (MTS). The sudden refusal of the authorities to renew or prolong the company’s license led to a major dispute between the Ministry of Communications of Turkmenistan and MTS. The suspension of the service also generated nationwide frustration and live queues of thousands of people across the country trying to quickly switch from MTS to the state owned Altyn Asyr (Golden Age) mobile service provider.
INDIA FAILS TO GAIN A MILITARY FOOTHOLD IN TAJIKISTAN
By Roman Muzalevsky (2/2/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
For almost a decade, India has been actively yet unsuccessfully seeking to establish a military foothold in Tajikistan, where it helped renovate the Ayni air base. The facility has long been on the radar screens of many powers, including the U.S.
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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.