VESTED INTERESTS TO DETERMINE KAZAKHSTAN’S PRESIDENTIAL RACE
By Ustina Markus, Nigmet Ibadildin and Ryan Kennedy (11/30/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: In July, President Nazarbayev confirmed he would run for another term as president of Kazakhstan. The move was controversial, since under the constitution an individual may only hold office for two consecutive terms, but Nazarbayev argued that since the constitution was only passed after he was already in office, his first term didn’t count. Surprisingly, although the opposition is now voicing complaints about the move, there was barely a ripple during the summer when Nazarbayev made his announcement.AZERBAIJAN’S POST-ELECTION SITUATION: A LOSE-LOSE SITUATION
By Alman Mir Ismail (11/30/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: After the voting in the November 6 Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan was over, many international and domestic observers were anxious to see the follow-up events. On the one hand, many feared that a repeat of October 16, 2003 would take place. At that time, police forces and opposition activists clashed in downtown Baku following the fraudulent Presidential elections, resulting in the death of a protestor as well as the severe beating and arrest of hundreds of opposition members.THE BLUE STREAM PIPELINE AND GEOPOLITICS OF NATURAL GAS IN EURASIA
By Mamuka Tsereteli (11/30/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: The Blue Stream pipeline is the world\'s deepest undersea pipeline, stretching from southern Russia under the Black Sea to the Durusu Metering Station, a gas terminal outside the port city of Samsun. The gas pipeline is scheduled to deliver 6 bcm per year in 2006, and to reach its full capacity of 16 bcm by 2010. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Turkey\'s Black Sea coast for the inauguration ceremony.AZERBAIJAN’S ELECTIONS: EVOLUTION, NOT REVOLUTION
By Svante E. Cornell (11/16/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: On the one hand, Azerbaijan’s strategic value to the West has gradually increased, due to its significant oil resources; its role in the international anti-terrorist coalition; and its symbolic role as a moderate, secular, and potentially democratic Muslim nation. While these elements were all assets to the incumbent regime, this was compounded by the Bush administration’s increased emphasis on democratization in the greater Middle East. Azerbaijan became a test case for the ‘Bush doctrine’: would Washington stick to its principles in case of a fraudulent election, or stand by a strategic if authoritarian ally? In the run-up to the elections, Washington took on a more active role in Azerbaijan’s electoral politics than at earlier occasions.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.