By Kevin Daniel Leahy (6/26/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)

At half-time during a recent Russian Football Premier League tie between Terek Grozny and CSKA Moscow, the game’s referee was confronted by an especially zealous Terek fan who upbraided the official on the calibre of his first half performance, allegedly threatening him with unspecified repercussions unless his second half performance proved more agreeable. According to Novaya Gazeta, the “fan” in question was none other than Adam Delimkhanov, Chechnya’s representative to the Russian State Duma and a close associate of Chechnya’s pro-Moscow President, Ramzan Kadyrov. This unseemly confrontation in the bowels of Grozny’s main sports stadium belies, or perhaps explains, the undoubted influence Delimkhanov exercises within Chechnya’s pro-Moscow political theatre.

By Mamuka Tsereteli (6/11/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)

With its continued policy of intimidation and military provocation toward Georgia, Moscow is seeking to prevent Georgia’s integration into transatlantic security structures. Russia also wants to achieve a much greater geostrategic objective: to close the strategic access route to the heartland of the Eurasian continent for Western interests. The ports and railroad systems of the South Caucasus, as well as an air corridor through the region, provide a vital supply link for NATO and allied forces in Central Eurasia, including in Afghanistan.

By Richard Weitz (6/11/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Last month, Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov became the first Turkmen president to visit Azerbaijan since his deceased predecessor, Saparmurad Niyazov, traveled there in 1996. Any reconciliation between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan would be doubly important from the perspective of world energy markets. First, the two countries possess extensive oil and gas reserves within their territories.