Field Reports
Georgia's National Currency Continues to Depreciate
By Eka Janashia (the 22/01/2014 issue of the CACI Analyst)
2013 saw a significant depreciation of the Georgian national currency Lari (GEL) compared to both the US$ and the Euro. From the beginning of last year until now, the Lari's exchange rate has dropped against the U.S. and EU currency by over 5 and 7 percent respectively. Georgia's Minister of Finance, Nodar Khaduri, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, and the President of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG), Giorgi Kadagidze, insist that there is no reason for panic. However, the steady and speedy depreciation of the Lari has already triggered undesirable expectations among consumers and the business sector.
Armenia's Former President Attacks Prime Minister
By Haroutiun Khachatrian (the 22/01/2014 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Armenia's second President Robert Kocharyan presented an unexpectedly harsh criticism of Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan’s economic policy. The attack demonstrates that cooperation between Kocharyan and Armenia's third President Serzh Sargsyan, may be deteriorating.
Opposition under Fire in Georgia
By Archil Zhorzholiani (the 08/01/2014 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The post-election period in Georgia, and especially December 2013, has been marked with a new wave of prosecutions against the main opposition party United National Movement (UNM).
Turkmenistan Holds Its First Multiparty Parliamentary Elections
By Tavus Rejepova (the 08/01/2014 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On December 15, almost 2.8 million voters cast their ballots to elect new members into Turkmenistan’s first ever multi-party unicameral Parliament, Mejlis. According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), the total voter turnout was 91.3 percent out of all registered eligible voters. The CEC is expected to announce the results of the first multiparty elections in the country next week, while skeptics claim the elections bring no real change in the near future.
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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.