THE CHANGING NATURE OF AZERBAIJANI ELECTIONS
By Alman Mir Ismail (5/17/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: On May 13, Azerbaijan held “mini†parliamentary elections, re-runs in the ten constituency remaining vacant since last November due to the election fraud there and the subsequent annulment of the election results by the Central Election Commission and the Constitutional Court. These re-elections presented the government of Azerbaijan with another opportunity to prove to the international community and domestic voters that it is capable of pulling together its political will and to conduct free and fair elections. At the same time, it presented a new test to the international community, more specifically to the Council of Europe, where Azerbaijan’s commitments to democracy will be discussed in the June session.PAKISTAN-AFGHAN RELATIONS: HOSTAGE TO THE PAST
By Rahimullah Yusufzai (5/17/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: When Pakistan won independence from British rule in 1947, Afghanistan was the only country in the world to oppose its membership in the United Nations. Kabul took the plea that the Pakhtun and Baloch people inhabiting Balochistan and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) bordering Afghanistan had not been given the right of self-determination and, as such, their territories were forcibly merged into Pakistan. This led to the Pakhtunistan problem, as successive Afghan governments publicly highlighted the rights of Pakhtuns and Baloch and demanded a separate homeland for the Pakhtun people.KADYROV\'S BLUFF: WHY CHECHNYA’S STRONGMAN CONTINUES TO TEST HIS POLITICAL BOUNDARIES
By Kevin Daniel Leahy (5/17/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: While visiting Jordan during October of last year, Alu Alkhanov went on record, complaining that his then-first deputy prime minister, Ramzan Kadyrov, was undermining his rule as president. This was the first overt indication of tension between the two men since Alkhanov – equipped with the Kadyrovsty’s requisite blessing – acceded to the presidency in August 2004. Back then, Kadyrov heralded him as “a steadfast general, a firm politician and a principal opponent of separatismâ€.AMERICA STRIKES BACK? GEOPOLITICAL RIVALRY IN CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS
By Stephen Blank (5/17/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: The statements and intentions coming out of Washington do not herald the advance of a new Cold War, as some of the more hysterical comments coming out of Moscow indicated, but the could very well signify an end to strategic partnership. More precisely, they do signify Washington\'s realization, albeit rather late in the game, that geopolitical rivalry in the borderlands is for real and not as former State Department officials claimed, a “mug’s game.†Win-win solutions involving Moscow and Washington are unlikely to be broached by Washington, and it may more forthrightly acknowledge that a rivalry in these areas exists.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.