TAPI: Time for the Big Push
by Gulshan Sachdeva (07/10/2013 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Despite many positive developments in the last few years, the future of the ambitious TAPI gas pipeline project is still in doubt. All four partner countries are making serious preparations for the project. However, the uncertainty surrounding post-2014 Afghanistan has dampened the motivation among major energy companies to act as lead consortium partners of the project. In these circumstances, multilateral agencies like the Asian Development Bank may have to play a crucial role in salvaging the project. Likewise, if the U.S. administration is serious about its support for TAPI, it should put its full diplomatic and financial weight behind it.
CACI Analyst, June 12, 2013
Georgian Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan
by Eka Janashia (06/12/2013 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The death of seven Georgian solders in Helmand province of Afghanistan on June 6 gave rise to diverse concerns among the Georgian public. Some Georgians think the price the country has to pay for NATO integration is extremely high while others point to the growing risks beyond the incident in Afghanistan, linked to recently released videos declaring a jihad on Georgia.
Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tadjikistan Railway Project Inaugurated
by Sergei Medrea (06/12/2013 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The inauguration ceremony of the ambitious Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan railway project took place on June 5, 2013 in Lebap province of Turkmenistan. It marked the official launch of the construction of the 400 kilometer railway that will connect gas-rich Turkmenistan with neighboring Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Tajik president Emomali Rahmon attended the ceremony on the invitation of Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov.
Pakistan Concerned Over Afghanistan-India Relationship
by Naveed Ahmad (06/12/2013 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai is a shrewd politician, even more so as his term in office nears completion and uncertainty prevails. After a spate of words with Pakistan following a border skirmish, he left for India to seek military assistance against aggressive neighboring troops. For a change, Islamabad kept its cool and welcomed China’s Prime Minister Li Keqiang, who was also flying in after a “handshake across the Himalayas” in New Delhi. As for Karzai, it was not his first flight to India for military hardware or training. However, his action is largely seen as aimed to pressure Pakistan’s newly elected leaders prior to the exit of NATO forces in 2014.
Visit also
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.
The Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst is a biweekly publication of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, a Joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center affiliated with the American Foreign Policy Council, Washington DC., and the Institute for Security and Development Policy, Stockholm. For 15 years, the Analyst has brought cutting edge analysis of the region geared toward a practitioner audience.
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