BRANDING THE NEW NATIONS OF CENTRAL ASIA AND SOUTH CAUCASUS
By Erica Marat (11/14/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
As the states of Central Asia and the South Caucasus celebrate the sixteenth anniversary of independence this year, they are gradually moving toward appreciating their international images ahead of promoting national ideologies domestically. To date, Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan have made the first conscious steps in promoting their national peculiarities in the international arena by designing recognizable images and slogans. But more extensive strategies are soon to be developed if these states choose to compete on the international market for tourists and investments.
WEN JIABAO’S VISIT TO MOSCOW FAILS TO RESOLVE PROBLEMS IN RUSSIAN-CHINESE ECONOMIC RELATIONS
By Marcin Kaczmarski (11/14/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On November 5-6, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao paid an official visit to Moscow, in the framework of regular consultations on the level of heads of governments. Despite numerous agreements signed, the talks, focused on economic issues, failed to produce an agreement in most important area – Russian oil exports to China. Nevertheless, for the very first time, the Chinese side appeared to be ready to make some economic concessions to Russia and open its machinery and high-tech market for Russian enterprises.
TER-PETROSYAN CHALLENGES THE KARABAKH ELITE
By Blanka Hancilova and Olga Azatyan (10/31/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The re-entry of former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan into Armenian politics has the propensity to complicate the so-far smooth implementation of the presidential succession scheme laid out by the current President Robert Kocharyan and Prime Minister Serzh Sarkissian. After eight years marked by a high degree of continuity, and key contradictions were addressed quietly within the ruling elite, Armenia may be heading into a period of higher volatility and, perhaps, also higher transparency.
BACKGROUND: Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the first President of post-Soviet independent Armenia, left his post in February 1998 under pressure from his ministers led by then Prime Minister Robert Kocharyan.
CHINA’S RECENT ENERGY GAINS IN CENTRAL ASIA: WHAT DO THEY PORTEND
By Stephen Blank (10/31/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
China and Turkmenistan recently laid the ground for a 30bcm gas pipeline that will start pumping in 2009. This was the second deal consummated by China for a pipeline originating in Central Asia, the first being the deal with Kazakhstan to ship oil in the Atasu-Alashankou pipeline that began operating in 2005. A planned extension to the Caspian will give China direct access to the Caspian Sea.
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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.