By Alexander Sodiqov (5/25/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)

As skyrocketing food prices become an increasingly salient trigger for social and political protests across the developing world, sharp rises in prices for basic foodstuffs in Tajikistan are contributing to a growing popular frustration with the government’s inability to control prices. The food costs in the country rose by up to 30 percent over the last two months, with meat and wheat flour prices jumping 50 percent in some areas. Although government officials expect a moderation in food prices later this year, analysts warn that the costs for major foodstuffs might rise again before Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, in August.

By Georgiy Voloshin (5/25/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)

After Nursultan Nazarbayev’s successful reelection to the presidency on April 4, Kazakhstan has hosted a string of high-profile economic meetings aimed at boosting its standing in global affairs and putting forward a number of proposals about how to further economic modernization and diversification in line with contemporary challenges to the world economy.

In the beginning of May, President Nazarbayev addressed the Fourth Astana Economic Forum, a large-scale gathering attended by more than 2,000 guests, including seven Nobel Prize winners, two former presidents, acting heads of government and prominent experts. Taking a leaf out of the book of last year’s Forum, in which most discussions focused on ways to overcome the consequences of the financial crisis, Nazarbayev called upon the international community to support his initiative of signing a global pact for joint regulation of the world economy.

By Olof Staaf (5/25/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)

No expenses were spared when Grozny’s new state of the art soccer stadium was inaugurated on May 11. The televised event was celebrated by fireworks, musical performances, and a high profile exhibition game between a team from the region and a team consisting of retired international stars led by Diego Armando Maradona.

The so called Team Kavkaz was mainly made up of former players from the local FC Terek Grozny and politicians like Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, President Medvedev’s personal envoy to the North Caucasus Aleksander Khloponin, Chechen Prime Minister Odes Baysultanov, and Kadyrov’s cousin Adam Delimkhanov, who is also Chechnya’s representative to the Russian State Duma.