CENTRAL ASIA STRIVES TO RESIST NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION TIDE
By Richard Weitz (6/3/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The nuclear disorders in East Asia contrast vividly with the nonproliferation progress in the neighboring region of Central Asia. Whereas North Korea’s nuclear testing is threatening to precipitate of a horizontal nuclear proliferation wave in surrounding countries, the Central Asian states are leading a campaign to strengthen the global nonproliferation regime by making their region a nonproliferation paradigm. Unfortunately, the Central Asians are not masters of their fate; great power politics continue to impinge on their ability to pursue their nonproliferation goals.
YEREVAN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS DEEPEN THE POLITICAL CRISIS IN ARMENIA
By Blanka Hancilova (6/3/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On May 31, the first Yerevan mayoral elections were bitterly contested by the ruling Armenian Republican Party and the opposition Armenian National Congress, represented by the first president of independent Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan. The elections were marred by numerous violations, including vote buying and instances of violence and voter intimidation. Predictably, according to the official results, the Republican Party secured a landslide victory and the mayoral office.
CONSTRUCTION BOOM AND BANKING CRISIS IN KAZAKHSTAN
By Alima Bissenova (6/3/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In the years following financial liberalization, Kazakhstan has seen a spectacular construction boom and an inflation of real estate assets, driven by internal and external investment. The country has boasted the highest per capita foreign investment and the most developed banking system in the CIS. From 1999 to 2007, the economy displayed steady GDP growth of about 10 percent per year.
CHINA’S RECENT CENTRAL ASIAN ENERGY MOVES
By Stephen Blank (5/20/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)
China has exploited the current global economic crisis to intensify and accelerate its previous strategy for obtaining energy security and political influence abroad. Exploiting other countries’ and firms’ distress, using its enormous cash reserves, and benefitting from the fact that its economy appears to be less adversely affected than others have been, China, through its oil companies CNOOC, CNPC, Petro China, SINOPEC, or through governmental agencies, is either lending afflicted firms and countries money to obtain long-term contracts, access to energy, and other comodities at below market prices if possible, and at the current low market prices where necessary.
BACKGROUND: China’s tactics are not new.
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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.