FIRE OVER WATER IN CENTRAL ASIA
By Umida Hashimova (4/8/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The common Soviet plan for regional water and energy sharing, exchange and management disappeared with the independence of individual republics. The break up of the Soviet Union divided the Central Asian countries into those controlling water upstream and those that depended on them downstream. So far, failure to agree on the distribution of water among these states has resulted in exerting political and economic pressure on one another, sometimes to situations almost escalating into interstate armed conflict.
PUTIN-KADYROV SPAT OVERSHADOWS GROZNY’S CONFLICT WITH RUSSIA’S ECONOMIC MINISTRIES
By Kevin Daniel Leahy (4/8/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)
A recent well-publicized exchange between Vladimir Putin and Ramzan Kadyrov has given rise to speculation as to whether the Chechen president has finally exhausted the Russian premier’s patience with him. But in their haste to identify fissures in the Putin-Kadyrov relationship, observers are overlooking more obvious tensions elsewhere in the Moscow-Grozny relationship, tensions that are becoming increasingly apparent amid the worsening economic situation in Russia.
BACKGROUND: On March 20, Ramzan Kadyrov arrived at Novo Ogarevo for an audience with Vladimir Putin.
OBSTACLES TO A SUCCESSFUL CIVILIAN SURGE IN AFGHANISTAN
By Richard Weitz (4/8/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Obama administration’s newly announced strategy for winning the war in Afghanistan aims to strengthen the American and, ideally, international efforts in that country along three dimensions: defense, diplomacy, and development. The defense component includes a major increase in the number of American combat troops operating in Afghanistan, whereas the diplomatic thrust employs a regional security approach that engages Pakistan, Iran, and other countries more deeply in resolving Afghanistan’s problems.
GERMANY AND TURKEY KEEP NABUCCO ON THE ROCKS
By Stephen Blank (3/25/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The EU’s priority pipeline, Nabucco has been an ill-starred project since its inception several years ago. The EU’s March 20 decisions indicate that Nabucco may be alive, but in serious trouble. Germany’s move from skepticism to outright hostility to the project is remarkable, as is Turkey’s counterproductive machinations to extract additional benefits from it.
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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.