News Digest
ARMENIAN, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET IN YEREVAN
By empty (5/2/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Concluding a diplomatic tour of the South Caucasus, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi met in Yerevan on 30 April with Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian and other officials, according to Armenpress and RFE/RL\'s Yerevan bureau. The Iranian foreign minister reviewed plans to expand bilateral relations, including the proposed construction of the $45 million, 40-kilometer Kajaran tunnel, a long-planned $120 million natural-gas pipeline, and a joint power station on the Arax River. Oskanian also welcomed Kharrazi\'s proposal for a new \"regional security system\" to avert conflict and promote regional stability.EBRD MEETING IN TASHKENT OPENS WITH CRITICISM OF HOST
By empty (5/4/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The annual meeting of the EBRD\'s board of governors opened on 4 May in Tashkent with sharp criticism of the host country by Human Rights Watch (HRW) acting Director Kenneth Roth. Many international human rights organizations have criticized the EBRD for choosing Uzbekistan for its meeting, and the grounds for their objections to the venue were set out by Roth in his statement at the opening ceremony. Roth said Uzbekistan has not implemented the political and economic reforms required by the bank.EBRD CHIEF ECONOMIST NOTES SLOW GROWTH IN UZBEKISTAN
By empty (5/5/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
At a news conference on 5 May in connection with the EBRD annual meeting, EBRD Chief Economist Willem Buiter presented the latest version of the bank\'s report on the progress of countries with transition economies, focusing particularly on the situation in Uzbekistan. Buiter noted that foreign investment in Uzbekistan is the lowest -- $6 per capita -- of the Central Asian countries where the bank is active. The EBRD report projects a growth rate of 2.KAZAKHSTAN CLOSES BORDER WITH CHINA TO STOP SARS
By empty (5/5/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Kazakh Prime Minister Imanghaliy Tasmaghambetov on 5 May ordered that Kazakhstan\'s border with China be closed until 20 May to prevent the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Interfax-Kazakhstan reported the same day. He also instructed the Foreign Ministry to bring the families of staff members at the Kazakh Embassy in Beijing and other Kazakh citizens back to Kazakhstan until the health situation in China normalizes. Several ministries were told to compile a list of Kazakh citizens registered with the Kazakh Embassy in Beijing and submit it to the Health Ministry within three days so that an organized return home can be organized.Visit also
Staff Publications
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, U.S. Policy in Central Asia through Central Asian Eyes, May 2023.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, "Promise and Peril in the Caucasus," AFPC Insights, March 30, 2023.
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Putin's War In Ukraine and the Crimean War), 19fourtyfive, January 2, 2023
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Russia Needs Its Own Charles de Gaulle, Foreign Policy, July 21, 2022.
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, Rethinking Greater Central Asia: American and Western Stakes in the Region and How to Advance Them, June 2022
Oped Svante E. Cornell & Albert Barro, With referendum, Kazakh President pushes for reforms, Euractiv, June 3, 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell Russia's Southern Neighbors Take a Stand, The Hill, May 6, 2022.
Silk Road Paper Johan Engvall, Between Bandits and Bureaucrats: 30 Years of Parliamentary Development in Kyrgyzstan, January 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell, No, The War in Ukraine is not about NATO, The Hill, March 9, 2022.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, Kazakhstan’s Crisis Calls for a Central Asia Policy Reboot, The National Interest, January 34, 2022.
Book S. Frederick Starr and Svante E. Cornell, Strong and Unique: Three Decades of U.S.-Kazakhstan Partnership, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, December 2021.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell, S. Frederick Starr & Albert Barro, Political and Economic Reforms in Kazakhstan Under President Tokayev, November 2021.