News Digest
ANOTHER CONSORTIUM FAILS TO FIND OIL IN AZERBAIJAN
By empty (3/18/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Two wells the Japanese Azerbaijani Operational Consortium drilled in the Ateshgakh Caspian field have failed to yield oil in commercial quantities. The consortium, in which Azerbaijan\'s state oil company SOCAR has a 50 percent stake with the remaining 50 percent divided among five Japanese oil companies, will not drill a further exploratory well, but will conduct further geophysical studies at Ateshgakh and two other fields before deciding whether to self-liquidate. The contract to develop the three fields, which were said to have estimated recoverable reserves of 75 million to 90 million metric tons, was signed four years ago.ABKHAZ PARLIAMENT RATIFIES APPEAL FOR \'ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP\' OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION
By empty (3/18/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The parliament of the unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia on 18 March ratified an appeal to the Russian government to grant Abkhazia \"associate membership\" of the Russian Federation. The leaders of both Abkhazia and the similarly unrecognized Republic of South Ossetia formally requested such status for their respective republics a year ago, and the Russian State Duma responded with a statement reserving the right to consider granting such status. \"Associate status\" of the Russian Federation would oblige Abkhazia to coordinate with Russia its defense, foreign, and economic policies and formally to adopt the Russian ruble as its currency.BUSH THANKS UZBEKISTAN\'S PRESIDENT FOR SUPPORT AGAINST TERRORISM
By empty (3/18/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Uzbekistan\'s presidential press service announced on 18 March that U.S. President George W.SHELL SET TO PULL-OUT OF TURKMENISTAN
By empty (3/18/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell will reduce to a minimum its presence Turkmenistan from April 1, an official of the Central Asian country\'s oil and gas industry ministry said on Tuesday. \"Shell feels there is a lack of prospects for oil and gas projects in Turkmenistan. Just a few people will remain at its Ashkhabad office to observe developments in the oil and gas sectors,\" an official of the oil and gas industry ministry said on condition of anonymity.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.