By Fariz Ismailzade (12/17/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia and the United States have engaged in a mixture of geopolitical competition and cooperation in the Caucasus region. Considering the region as its own backyard, Russia looked with suspicion to American efforts to engage the newly independent countries of the Caucasus into western military, political and economic institutions. The U.By Olivia Allison (12/17/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Media laws were passed in 1991 and 1999, and the latter law was amended in 2001. The Constitution and each media law theoretically guarantee freedom of speech and expression and prohibit censorship, but lawyers, human rights organizations and press freedom/media groups cite a worsening trend for freedom of speech since the 1991 law. Oversight bodies and registration procedures have increased, and prohibitions of the “abuse of freedom,” as well as other limitations on press freedom, remain in the law.By Denis Trifonov (12/17/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: At the bilateral level, Russian intelligence has utilised old KGB networks and common Soviet heritage to influence threat perceptions of local leaders. Soon after the end of the USSR, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and its domestic counterpart FSB (then FSK) signed data exchange and joint operations deals with all CIS states. Russian intelligence stations were opened throughout the region, most with a remit to conduct operations against third states.By Ariel Cohen (12/3/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: During November 3-5 summit in Russia, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Russian president Vladimir Putin have signed a historic agreement making Israel the first Middle Eastern transit country for Russian oil. The 158-mile (254 km) pipeline from the Red Sea port of Eilat on the Gulf of Aqaba to Ashkelon was constructed in the 1960s, to ship Iranian oil to European and U.S.The Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst is a biweekly publication of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, a Joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center affiliated with the American Foreign Policy Council, Washington DC., and the Institute for Security and Development Policy, Stockholm. For 15 years, the Analyst has brought cutting edge analysis of the region geared toward a practitioner audience.
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