News Digest
SAAKASHVILI WANTS ALL REFUGEES TO RETURN TO ABKHAZIA
By empty (3/30/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said the return of all refugees regardless of their nationality, security for the Georgian population in the Gali district and joint economic projects are crucial to settling the conflict in the breakaway province of Abkhazia. \"After trust is restored, we will have to start negotiations on a serious status for Abkhazia that will fully guarantee the rights of the Abkhazians,\" Saakashvili told a news conference on Tuesday. The president said he is aware of what sentiments dominate in Abkhazia\'s capital of Sukhumi.RUSSIA FACING ACUTE SHORTAGE OF ABLE-BODIED MEN
By empty (3/30/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Regional Development Minister Vladimir Yakovlev said on 30 March that up to 60 percent of Russian males today are either underage, elderly, or handicapped. Of an able-bodied male population of about 20 million, nearly 1 million are in prison; about 4 million are serving in the military, Interior Ministry, Emergency Situations Ministry, or Federal Security Service (FSB); some 4 million are alcoholics, and about 1 million are drug addicts. Moreover, mortality among men is about four times the rate it is for women.MINISTER ACCUSES OSCE OF \'DESTABILIZING\' KYRGYZSTAN
By empty (3/30/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on 30 March that Russia is concerned about the political situation in the CIS, where several countries have seen \"violent changes of government\" in recent months. \"We consider it counterproductive to intervene in the internal processes of [neighboring] states,\" Lavrov said. He criticized the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for its role in the ongoing events in Kyrgyzstan, saying that OSCE assessments of the elections there were used \"by those who destabilized the situation in the country\" and that \"Russia cannot ignore this fact.DEATHS, INJURIES, LOOTING REPORTED IN KYRGYZ CAPITAL
By empty (3/25/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Looting and violence in Bishkek on the night of 24-25 March claimed at least three lives and left hundreds injured as of 7 a.m. on 25 March.Visit also
Staff Publications
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, Greater Central Asia as A Component of U.S. Global Strategy, October 2024.
Analysis Laura Linderman, "Rising Stakes in Tbilisi as Elections Approach," Civil Georgia, September 7, 2024.
Analysis Mamuka Tsereteli, "U.S. Black Sea Strategy: The Georgian Connection", CEPA, February 9, 2024.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell, ed., Türkiye's Return to Central Asia and the Caucasus, July 2024.
Book Svante E. Cornell, ed., "The Changing Geopolitics of Central Asia and the Caucasus" AFPC Press/Armin LEar, 2023.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell and S. Frederick Starr, Stepping up to the “Agency Challenge”: Central Asian Diplomacy in a Time of Troubles, July 2023.
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, U.S. Policy in Central Asia through Central Asian Eyes, May 2023.