INDIA AND THE POLITICS OF THE TRANS-AFGHAN GAS PIPELINE
By Aftab Kazi and Tariq Saeedi (8/28/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: The first Trilateral Steering Committee meeting of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkmenistan, to implement the intergovernmental Agreement on the Construction of Trans-Afghan gas pipeline was held in Ashgabat, July 9-10. It was welcomed by the American Deputy Chief of Mission and officials of the Asian Development Bank who participated in the meeting as observers. The ADB has agreed to invest in the feasibility study and to provide between 2 to 3 billion dollars for pipeline construction from Turkmenistan's Daulatabad gas fields to the Pakistani port of Gwadar across Afghanistan.
GUNBOATS IN THE GREAT ANTI-TERRORIST GAME
By Pavel Baev (8/28/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Arriving to the Kremlin in early 2000, Putin immediately ordered a diplomatic campaign aimed at dividing the Caspian Sea into national sectors. The noisy shuttle-diplomacy activities provided perfect cover for a steady build-up of Russian military muscles, and first of all the Caspian Flotilla. Despite the obvious fact of sharp disagreements between the littoral states about borders across the oil-rich waters, Moscow was sending signals that the agreement was within reach.
REFERENDUM IN AZERBAIJAN: NEXT VICTORY OF AZERI PRESIDENT
By Anar Valiyev (9/11/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: On June 21, the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan approved the draft bill of a referendum on the introduction of 39 changes and amendments to the Constitution, submitted by President Aliyev. The most important changes over which the referendum is believed to have been organized were the cancellation of the proportional electoral system which implied that deputies are to be elected only on the basis of single-member constituencies; the number of votes required for the election of President was reduced to simple majority whereas before two thirds of votes were required; transferring the execution of the duties of Head of State in case of the President's premature resignation to the prime minister instead of the parliamentary speaker; and to transfer authority to ban political parties from the Constitutional Court to public courts. "Time has passed.
CLAN POLITICS AT THE BASE OF KYRGYZSTAN'S POLITICAL CRISIS
By Alisher Khamidov (9/11/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Several deputies of the Kyrgyz parliament, with civil society and human rights activists, on 14 August initiated a new movement called "For the Resignation of Askar Akayev and Reforms for the People" in Bishkek. Among its initiators are prominent public figures Azimbek Beknazarov, Adahan Madumarov, president of the Human Rights Institute Topchubek Turgunaliev, Chairman of the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights Ramazan Dyryldaev. The group has designated Ismail Isakov, a former Kyrgyz general, as its chairman and set a goal of preparing measures to end the current crisis and a program of reforms in Kyrgyzstan by September.
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.