TURKEY’S NEW CHALLENGES IN THE CAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
By Kemal Kaya (11/7/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Turkey was among the first countries to recognize their independence of the newly independent states, and over time, relations intensified in various areas. Especially after awareness of the vast oil and gas reserves in the Caspian basin grew, Turkey, like many other countries, developed interest in these vast energy sources. Apart from strategic political objectives, it has a fast-growing demand for energy consumption domestically and sees additional revenue opportunities in the transportation of these resources to world markets through its soil.
AVOIDING ESCALATION IN CENTRAL ASIA’S SOUTHERN BORDERLAND
By Maria Sultan (11/7/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: The 1990s has been an era of many surprises in South Asian power politics, characterized by Indo -Pakistani rivalry and the influence of great powers, mainly China and the U.S. The end of the cold war was thought to bring about a noticeable de-escalation in the level of tension in the numerous conflicts in the third world.
A FEDERATED AFGHANISTAN?
By S. Frederick Starr (11/7/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BAKGROUND: Like all its neighbors, including Iran and Pakistan, Afghanistan is a multi-ethnic land. Pashtuns are the largest group and Tajiks a distant second, followed by Hazaras, Uzbeks, and Turkmens. Obviously, any government that is to be legitimate must be organized in such a way as to assure fair representation for all.
THE TURKMEN CHALLENGE
By Stephen Blank (7/3/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Since independence in 1991, Niyazov has ruled Turkmenistan with an iron hand and through a suffocating and omnipresent cult of personality. This dictatorship, evidently far worse than the preceding generation of Soviet rule, has brought Turkmenistan to the brink of disaster and also apparently triggered substantial, if not yet overt, mass and elite disaffection. There is a virtual absence of civil society, and if reports by dissidents are true, there also is a high degree of likelihood of a failing state in the event of a transfer of power.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.