RUSSIAN INVESTMENTS IN ARMENIA: THEIR ECONOMIC BACKGROUND AND POSSIBLE POLITICAL IMPACT
By Haroutiun Khachatrian (12/13/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Russia is the largest source country of investments in the economy of Armenia, (US$405 million between 1996 and 2005) which is significant for this small country. As a result, a significant part of the country’s economic assets are controlled by Russians, both by the government and state-owned companies, and by private Russian companies. The bulk of the former group of assets came from the 2002 debt-for-equity swap, whereby Armenia repaid its US$97 million dollar debt to Russia accumulated during the crisis of 1990s.NEEDED: A U.S. BLACK SEA STRATEGY
By Ariel Cohen and Conway Irwin (12/13/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: The Wider Black Sea region is a patchwork of overlapping political areas and spheres of influence. Bulgaria and Romania are NATO members and soon-to-be EU members. Ukraine is caught between the West and Russia.RUSSIA’S STRONG-ARM POLICIES PROMPT REACTION IN SOUTH CAUCASUS AND SWAY BRUSSELS OPINION
By Jaba Devdariani and Blanka Hancilova (12/13/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: On December 6, the lower house of the Russian parliament approved in a first reading the draft law that would legalize economic sanctions against politically unfriendly countries. The sanctions have already been in force against Moldova, to block wine imports and, more heavily against Georgia – including the cutoff of the transport and postal links. The Kremlin-dominated gas giant, Gazprom, has also announced plans to almost double the gas price for Georgia and Azerbaijan, while keeping considerably lower rates for Armenia in exchange for a sell-off of its gas transit network to Gazprom.THE ANTI-REVOLUTIONARY TOOLKIT
By Regine A. Spector (12/13/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Over the past six years, leaders of youth movements and NGOs in post-communist countries – including Serbia, Georgia, and Ukraine – have organized massive street protests that have toppled the ruling regimes, normally after flawed elections. Their tactics have been peaceful and creative, including tent encampments, hi-tech communication networks, the use of humor and street art in revolutionary propaganda, and strong identification with meaningful colors or symbols. In 2005, some of these techniques were copied by the leaders of Lebanon’s Cedar Revolution.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.