KADYROV BRAWL WITH YAMADAEV POINTS TO RUSSIAN DILEMMA IN CHECHNYA
By Dmitry Shlapentokh (7/9/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In spring 2008, an unprecedented event took place in Chechnya when a quarrel between President Ramzan Kadyrov and Sulim Yamadaev, the commander of the Vostok battalion, almost led to military action when Kadyrov’s paramilitary detachments surrounded the Vostok base. In the clashes, several people were killed, and several officers of the Russian forces were arrested. The event is Kafkaesque given that Kadyrov’s forces and the Vostok are both legitimate military detachments supposedly fully controlled by Moscow, the latter even an integral part of the Russian army.
UZBEKISTAN’S RECENT GESTURES AND FOREIGN POLICY FORMULATION PROBLEM
By Farkhad Tolipov (6/26/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
During the April 2008 NATO Summit, an interesting new turn took place in the context of NATO’s post-Soviet relations. It was agreed that a railroad line would be created to transport the cargo from Europe through the territory of some CIS countries, including Russia, toward Afghanistan. Soon after this event, in June, an informal CIS summit took place in St.
AZERBAIJANI GAS AGAIN ON THE FRONT BURNER
By Robert M. Cutler (6/26/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliev has announced a doubling of the reserves of both oil and gas in his country’s Caspian offshore. New finds in as many of five fields to be developed contain perhaps 50 trillion cubic feet of gas, such as to require a new gas export pipeline. An executive of the national oil company SOCAR has hinted that gas from Turkmenistan could be included, starting even in the near term with small quantities.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS FAIL TO CHANGE AFGHAN WAR FUNDAMENTALS
By Richard Weitz (6/26/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The military conflict in Afghanistan remains stalemated. Coalition forces continue to win conventional battles against the Taliban insurgents, but the guerrillas remain sufficiently robust to prevent the Afghan government from establishing control over much of the country, or NATO governments from envisaging a near-term exit from the Afghan War. Recent developments in Pakistan threaten to make matters even worse.
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