By Temuri Yakobashvili and Johanna Popjanevski (1/9/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The January 5 presidential elections vindicated Georgia’s democratic credentials. It brought Mikheil Saakashvili a second term in power, but one which will be distinctively different from his first. With Georgia’s post-revolutionary period coming to an end, parliamentary elections this spring are certain to yield a much more diverse and contested political scene.

By Rafis Abazov (1/9/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)

In January 2008, government officials in Turkmenistan reiterated their commitment to education reforms and announced a 46 percent increase in budgetary spending on schools and universities. These steps come on top of a 40 percent increase of educational spending in 2007. These public announcements also intensified heated debates about the state of education in Turkmenistan and the direction of the reforms: should the reforms be oriented toward open private initiatives and fee-based education (the American market-oriented model) or should the education system remain subsidized and state-supported as in north European countries?

BACKGROUND: Turkmenistan entered independence with a strong commitment to radically reform its education system.

By Richard Weitz (1/9/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)

On December 12, the Russian government “suspended” its obligations regarding the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty. The immediate effect of the suspension, an option not even provided for in the original 1990 treaty, has been that Moscow has stopped providing information about the size, location, and activities of its military forces west of the Ural Mountains, the Russian territory covered by the treaty. Another consequence, however, has been to exacerbate security concerns in countries located near Russia, especially in Georgia and Turkey.