TURKEY: A LINCHPIN IN PIPELINE POLITICS
By Ariel Cohen and Conway Irwin (11/1/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND:EU countries rely on Russia for more than 40 percent of their natural gas imports. Russia controls the majority of gas pipeline infrastructure connecting Central Asia and Russia to Europe and denies other parties access to its excess pipeline capacity. Concerns over Russia�s questionable business practices and reliability as an energy supplier have led European policy makers to support alternative routes for natural gas transport to EU markets, and they are turning to Turkey as a potential conduit for gas transit lines.THE KONDOPOGA RIOTS: THE SIGN OF THINGS TO COME?
By Dmitry Shlapentokh (11/1/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The cause of the outburst was found in a local restaurant, Chaika, where the Azerbaijani owner had a quarrel with customers. The local police apparently did not intervene, and the owner called for the help of his Chechen friends, who arrived on the scene armed with metal stakes and knives and started to beat up the customers indiscriminately. Some witnesses claimed that they screamed, “Allah Akbar!\" (God is great) and “Let’s beat the Russians.A HOT POLITICAL AUTUMN IN THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
By Talaibek Koichumanov and Zainidin Kurmanov (10/18/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Following the sudden and unexpected change of power in Kyrgyzstan on March 24, 2005, a split occurred in the victorious camp on the country’s further development. One of the points of discord has been the question of urgent constitutional reforms, which were advocated by democratic civil society groups, as well as representatives of Parliament and political parties. Such a reform would review the Constitution in order to strengthen checks and balances between the branches of power.UZBEKISTAN REJOINS THE CSTO: ARE RUSSIAN-UZBEK RELATIONS HEADING TOWARD MUTUAL ENTRAPMENT?
By Matteo Fumagalli (10/18/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: The Collective Security Treaty was signed in Tashkent in May 1992 and entered into force in 1994. Uzbekistan was one of the founding members of the organization, along with Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Belarus, Georgia and Azerbaijan later also adhered to it.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.