Field Reports
NEW KYRGYZ FOREIGN POLICY CONCEPT PASSED
By Joldosh Osmonov (1/24/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On January 10, 2007, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev approved Kyrgyzstan’s new foreign policy concept. According to this new concept, Kyrgyzstan will conduct a multi-vectored, balanced and pragmatic foreign policy based on its national interests. The new concept emphasizes four main priorities in Kyrgyzstan’s new foreign policy: 1) strengthening national security by foreign policy means and methods, 2) formation of priorities in the country’s development, 3) strengthening a positive image of Kyrgyzstan at the international arena, and 4) formation of an effective system in the country’s foreign policy.RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR RETURNS TO GEORGIA, BUT SANCTIONS REMAIN
By Kakha Jibladze (1/24/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
During the worst diplomatic scandal to hit the two bickering neighbors since the end of the Soviet Union, Russian President Vladimir Putin recalled the ambassador to Georgia – all but closing the Russian embassy in Tbilisi and severing diplomatic ties. And on January 18, just as suddenly, he announced Ambassador Vyacheslav Kovalenko was heading back to Tbilisi.The move comes less than a month after several companies operating in Georgia were forced to sign various contracts – some for a year, others for as short as three months – with Kremlin-owned gas giant Gazprom.
AS NURSULTAN NAZARBAYEV AND HU JINTAO SHAKE HANDS, UNCERTAINTIES LINGER
By Marat Yermukanov (1/24/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The talks between Nursultan Nazarbayev and Chinese leader Hu Jintao and the joint statement of cooperation strategy for the twenty-first century showed all signs of a model partnership between Kazakhstan and China. Hu Jintao and Nazarbayev signed 10 agreements relating to scientific and cultural ties, transport communications, bilateral trade, energy resources, border control and customs regulations, trans-border rivers and labor migration. Before leaving Beijing, Nursultan Nazarbayev announced in a visibly optimistic mood to the press that China and Kazakhstan finally eliminated all their border problems and laid a solid foundation for mutual trust and friendship.GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT HUNTS FOR GAS
By Kakha Jibladze (1/10/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
However, Tbilisi’s search for more acceptable partners has not been completely fruitless: according to the government, at least 1/8 of the country’s gas needs will be covered by gas from Azerbaijan.The gas issue is highly political after a year of increasingly tense relations with Russia. Last year started off with a tense standoff between the two neighbors after mysterious explosions cut off gas supplies from Russia to both Georgia and Armenia, a staunch Russian ally in the region.
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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.