By Dmitry Shlapentokh (8/22/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Conversion to Islam and the related spread of Islamism has a long history in Russia; however the North Caucasus and jihadists from this region are playing an increasingly important role in this process. While small in number, converts are important assets for jihadists as they provide a cadre of dedicated terrorists who are difficult to detect.
By Myles G. Smith (8/22/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Since China imposed export restrictions on Rare Earth Elements (REEs) in 2010, investors have flooded the sector in search of an alternative supplier of these elements, which are critical in high-tech manufacturing. Kyrgyzstan, home of the Soviet Union’s primary REEs industrial complex and one of the world’s few previously-proven asset sets outside China, appeared set to capitalize. Kazakhstan, already a global mining hub, signed investment deals with German and Japanese interests early in 2012.
By Jacob Zenn (8/22/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Jund al-Khilafah (JaK) claimed responsibility for three terrorist attacks carried out by separate cells in Atyrau, Taraz and Almaty between October and December 2011. JaK caught Kazakhstani and foreign governments by surprise since the attacks, which targeted and killed state officials, were unprecedented in the country.
By Roger N. McDermott (8/8/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Tashkent’s decision to suspend its membership of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) on June 20 prompted speculation about Uzbekistan’s apparently sudden policy reversal. Some observers restricted themselves to dismissing Tashkent as a troublesome and disagreeable partner both for Russia and the country’s Central Asian neighbors, while others advanced the argument that President Islam Karimov is preparing to host a new 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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