News Digest
IRANIAN MINISTER POSTPONES RUSSIA VISIT
By empty (9/3/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The official Iranian news agency says the Iranian defence minister, Admiral Ali Shamkhani, has postponed a visit to Russia because it would coincide with a visit to Moscow by the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon. A senior Foreign Ministry official in Tehran, Firouz Dowlatabadi said Admiral Shamkhani would not now be going to Moscow on Wednesday as planned but said he hoped the visit would take place soon. According to the news agency, Admiral Shamkhani was due to discuss increasing military cooperation.GEORGIA TURNS DOWN CIS DEFENSE POST
By empty (8/31/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)
U.S.-trained Georgian Defense Minister Davit Tevzadze has rejected the post of deputy head of the Coordinating Staff of the CIS Armed Forces.RUSSIA OPPOSES IMMEDIATE DEMILITARIZATION OF CASPIAN
By empty (8/31/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Viktor Kaluzhnii, the deputy foreign minister and presidential representative for Caspian issues, told Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev on 30 August that Moscow does not support Aliev's recent proposal to demilitarize the Caspian in the immediate future. (RIA).GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN CALLS FOR INSTITUTIONAL CHANGES.
By empty (8/30/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Parliament Chairman Zurab Zhvania told deputies on 30 August that corruption has undercut public trust in both the executive and legislative branches and that institutional changes and not just ministerial shifts are needed to recover that trust and make progress possible, Georgian TV reported. In other comments, he said that President Eduard Shevardnadze and the country have to make a serious decision about the kind of country they want and that the ruling party may split over this choice between reform and the continuation of current policies. Meanwhile, the parliamentary majority has decided to send yet another letter to the president.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.