By Azmat Hayat Khan (5/22/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: The Afghans, and especially the majority Pashtun population, live in a tribal, egalitarian society, in which Islam and the Pashtu Code (Pukhtunwali) are inseparable from one another - though the Pashtu Code often becomes dominant. During times of crisis, Afghans have always been led by traditional national leaders. As tribesmen, the Afghans defend their territory against one another, or against other tribes, but during national crises, tribal differences are shelved and the nation as a whole takes up arms against an invader or a rebel - as in the instance of Iran attacking Herat in 1832.By Dr. Robert M. Cutler (9/27/2000 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: In October 1992, nine CIS countries signed the Bishkek Accord on visa-free travel: Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova. Georgia joined the accord in August 1995. In 1997, Ukraine and Azerbaijan separately negotiated bilateral regimes of visa-free travel with Russia.
By Miriam Lanskoy (9/27/2000 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: As one of the organizers of the 1991 Common National Congress of the Chechen people, Yusup Soslambekov read aloud and brought to a vote the resolution concerning Chechen independence. The Chechen Congress chose Dzhokhar Dudaev to lead its executive committee and Soslambekov became one of his deputies. This organization evolved into the post-Soviet Chechen government, in which Dudaev was president while Soslambekov served on various parliamentary committees.
By Alim Seytoff (9/27/2000 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: According Chinas Peoples Daily, a military truck belonging to the Peoples Liberation Army Reservist Force, exploded as it carried explosives for disposal on September 8 in Urumchi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. This catastrophic explosion took place during Friday's rush hour at 7:38 p.m.
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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