IRAN’S ENERGY DEALS WITH TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN: THE MANY FACETS OF CASPIAN ENERGY POLITICS
By Stephen Blank (9/5/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The energy politics in and around the Caspian and Black Sea continue to become increasingly complex as more energy from those areas becomes available, demand continues to remain high, and more and more parties with ever more complex interests get into the game. Iran’s recent energy deals with Turkey and Azerbaijan epitomize the complexities involved in making sense of regional energy politics in this part of the world. The two recent Iranian deals with Turkey and the one with Azerbaijan highlight the relationships between the multiple interests and issues of the players.
RAMZAN KADYROV’S YOUNG GOVERNMENT: MEDIOCRITY REWARDED, AMBITION CURTAILED
By Kevin Daniel Leahy (9/5/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Chechnya’s pro-Moscow administration was recently subject to a sweeping government reshuffle. Like any other reshuffle, this one produced both winners and losers. While riding President Ramzan Kadyrov’s coat-tails has undoubtedly helped kick-start the careers of certain non-descript functionaries like the new Premier, Odes Baisultanov, other more zestful Kadyrovites are being frustrated by their leader’s inherent suspicion of political ambition per se.
IS JAPAN’S INTEREST IN CENTRAL ASIA STAGNATING?
By Amy King and Jacob Townsend (9/5/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Recent figures on Japan’s official development assistance demonstrate that its engagement with Central Asia could be waning. Despite great expectations over the past few years, aid has fallen dramatically as Japan appears somewhat disillusioned, realizing among other the difficulties in obtaining access to the region’s oil and gas. Japan will not vanish from Central Asia, but its involvement may stagnate rather than expand, focusing on uranium and minor development assistance.
KAZAKHSTAN’S EMERGING SECURITY TIES WITH CHINA
By Roger N. McDermott (9/5/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Security Relations between Kazakhstan and China, though traditionally low-key and not widely publicized, have been growing steadily. Given the enhanced security cooperation within the SCO to combat terrorism, as witnessed in the highly publicized SCO ‘Peace Mission 2007’ antiterrorist exercises in China and Russia August 9-17, 2007, combined with China’s evolving energy interests in Kazakhstan, both countries appear set to enhance their military cooperation. This will bring China into the security dynamics at play around the Caspian Sea, and complicate yet more the complex web of security assistance provided to Kazakhstan by the U.
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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.