BEYOND GEORGIA: RUSSIA’S STRATEGIC INTERESTS IN EURASIA
By Mamuka Tsereteli (6/11/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
With its continued policy of intimidation and military provocation toward Georgia, Moscow is seeking to prevent Georgia’s integration into transatlantic security structures. Russia also wants to achieve a much greater geostrategic objective: to close the strategic access route to the heartland of the Eurasian continent for Western interests. The ports and railroad systems of the South Caucasus, as well as an air corridor through the region, provide a vital supply link for NATO and allied forces in Central Eurasia, including in Afghanistan.
CASPIAN ENERGY GAME HEATS UP
By Richard Weitz (6/11/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Last month, Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov became the first Turkmen president to visit Azerbaijan since his deceased predecessor, Saparmurad Niyazov, traveled there in 1996. Any reconciliation between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan would be doubly important from the perspective of world energy markets. First, the two countries possess extensive oil and gas reserves within their territories.
RUSSIA AND THE GEORGIAN CRISIS: WHAT DOES MOSCOW WANT?
By Stephen Blank (6/11/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Russian-initiated crisis against Georgia exemplifies the paradigm of coercive diplomacy. Ironically occurring after earlier statements at the beginning of 2008 that indicated that Moscow wanted a kind of détente in its relations with Tbilisi, it has both stirred up the likelihood of a conflict with Georgia and shown a reversion of Russian diplomacy back to the kind of pretexts for the use of force that Hitler and Stalin habitually employed in their wars.
BACKGROUND: The two triggers for this crisis were first the West’s recognition of Kosovo’s independence in the face of Russian objections and threats that this would destabilize the situation in the Caucasus, and second, the intention to award Georgia and Ukraine membership Action Plans (MAPs) for NATO.
THE JEWISH AND MUSLIM QUESTIONS IN PUTIN’S RUSSIA
By Dmitry Shlapentokh (6/11/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Contrary to common opinion, Putin’s Russia has actually been surprisingly favorable in its policies toward Russia’s Jewish community. This is directly related to the fear of Islam prevalent in Russian elites and society. While the threat of violence in the North Caucasus dictate a low profile to Russian government policies there, its policies in other areas, such as Tatarstan, are signs of its general attitudes to Muslims.
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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.