UNCERTAIN FUTURE FOR KYRGYZSTAN’S DRUG CONTROL AGENCY
By Johan Engvall & Kairat Osmonaliev (6/28/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: In the wake of the political upheavals in March 2005, the influence of drug trafficking on the political system in Kyrgyzstan has expanded and reached unprecedented levels. A number of contract killings of high-level public figures have allegedly been connected to the illegal narcotics industry. The country is a preferred route for drug smuggling, with an estimated 15-20 percent of the opiates produced in Afghanistan transiting its territory.GEORGIA NEARING NEXT STEP TOWARD NATO MEMBERSHIP
By David J. Smith (6/28/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Former President Eduard Shevardnadze initiated Georgia’s first steps toward NATO. In 1998, Georgia invited the International Security Advisory Board (ISAB) to offer top-down recommendations for comprehensive national security sector reform. In 2002, the United States began training the Georgian Armed Forces (GAF) in the Georgia Train and Equip Program (GTEP).KAZAKH DECISION TO JOIN BTC PIPELINE MAY ALTER DELICATE REGIONAL DYNAMICS
By Michael Denison (6/28/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: The agreement signed by Nazarbayev allows for the annual transit of approximately 53 million barrels of Kazakh crude through BTC, with an eventual staged increase to 175 million barrels per year. Four companies with a combined shareholding of 55 percent in Agip KCO, which manages the giant offshore Kashagan project in Kazakhstan, also have a 15 percent stake in the BTC pipeline consortium. Accordingly, it is likely that most of the Kazakh crude supplied to BTC will come from the Kashagan field once it comes into production in late 2008 or early 2009.AFTER SHANGHAI: GEOPOLITICAL SHIFTS IN EURASIA
By Ariel Cohen (6/28/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: President Vladimir Putin has announced that Iran views the latest incentive package offered by the West, Russia and China positively, and will negotiate. But the Iranian nuclear program was not even officially on the agenda of the SCO summit. Instead, both Russia and China went out of their way to stroke their Iranian guest, rather than rebuking his hate-mongering rhetoric or nuclear ambitions.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.