KYRGYZSTAN’S WEAKNESS AND CENTRAL ASIA’S INSECURITY
By Stephen Blank (11/1/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND:Constitutional reform has not taken place, corruption and criminality is rampant and opposition leaders, no doubt aggrieved at their being left out of the spoils, complain that Bakiyev and Kulov have followed in Askar Akayev’s footsteps as president by assigning choice economic plums to members of their families. Economically, as well, the country is not able to make major progress and the Russian economic presence has grown as Moscow has sought to help Kyrgyzstan overcome its crippling debts and backwardness which are exacerbated by a lack of exportable natural resources. Since the Tulip Revolution in March 2005, many of the hopes generated by that event have dissipated.SALVAGING THE NORTH CAUCASUS BY INVESTMENTS: SURKOV’S LEAP OF LOGIC
By Kevin Daniel Leahy (11/1/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND:During the course of an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel in mid-2005, Russia’s deputy presidential chief of staff, Vladislav Surkov, expounded on the challenges facing his administration in the North Caucasus. Specifically, he identified the creation of jobs, the development of educational opportunities, and the advancement of youth outreach programs as priority tasks. Although this particular interview did not explain how Surkov and his colleagues planned to address these outstanding issues, a speech he subsequently made to a gathering of Russian businesspeople proved rather more revealing.TURKEY: A LINCHPIN IN PIPELINE POLITICS
By Ariel Cohen and Conway Irwin (11/1/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND:EU countries rely on Russia for more than 40 percent of their natural gas imports. Russia controls the majority of gas pipeline infrastructure connecting Central Asia and Russia to Europe and denies other parties access to its excess pipeline capacity. Concerns over Russia�s questionable business practices and reliability as an energy supplier have led European policy makers to support alternative routes for natural gas transport to EU markets, and they are turning to Turkey as a potential conduit for gas transit lines.THE KONDOPOGA RIOTS: THE SIGN OF THINGS TO COME?
By Dmitry Shlapentokh (11/1/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The cause of the outburst was found in a local restaurant, Chaika, where the Azerbaijani owner had a quarrel with customers. The local police apparently did not intervene, and the owner called for the help of his Chechen friends, who arrived on the scene armed with metal stakes and knives and started to beat up the customers indiscriminately. Some witnesses claimed that they screamed, “Allah Akbar!\" (God is great) and “Let’s beat the Russians.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.