Field Reports
GEORGIA PONDERS CONSEQUENCES OF RUSSIA’S WINE BAN
By Kakjha Jibladze (5/3/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Over the past month the Russian government announced an embargo on Georgian wine, as well as threatened to ban the sale of Georgian mineral water in Russia. While officials in Moscow maintain this is merely a part of an ongoing campaign to clean the market of falsified products, Georgian authorities argue the embargo is political. According to Georgian businessmen, the government’s strategy is doing more harm than good for those struggling under the embargo.ASTANA SEEKS EQUAL FOOTING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BEIJING
By Marat Yermukanov (5/3/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Tokayev had an unusually busy schedule during his April 11-13 visit to Beijing, conducting a wide range of talks with top Chinese officials on energy, transport communication, border trade and, last but not least, trans-border river issues, a long-running sticking point in relations between the two states. Considering the complexity of problems in relations with Beijing despite the invariable protestations of friendship in bilateral summit talks, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry apparently had good reasons to postpone the visit to China, originally scheduled to take place in late February. Tokayev sought to prepare a good ground for the upcoming visit of President Nursultan Nazarbayev to Beijing planned for this autumn.A RALLY FOR DEMOCRACY IN KYRGYZSTAN
By Nurshat Ababakirov (5/3/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The rally, which comprised at least 10,000 people on the main square of Bishkek, was according to the organizers supposed to last for several days, until the government fulfilled the demands of the opposition, which consist of a ten-step program towards democracy and the rule of law. However, the rally disbanded after President Kurmanbek Bakiev and Prime Minister Felix Kulov came out to the crowd.The president could hardly finish his speech, because of the roaring noise of the crowd when he called the organizers of the meeting “blind politicians, if they don’t see any changes [in politics]”.
KYRGYZSTAN: CIVIL SOCIETY IN DANGER
By Nurshat Ababakirov (4/19/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Prime Minister Felix Kulov announced that the incident had political grounds because Mr. Baisalov is a prominent critic of criminals’ attempts to enter politics. Three days before the incident, the Coalition along with a number of non-governmental organizations led a march in the streets of Bishkek calling for the government to make more decisive steps to contain the burgeoning criminal world.Visit also
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.