AZERBAIJAN IN THE RUSSIAN-IRANIAN VISE
By Ariel Cohen and Conway Irwin (3/22/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: On February 21-22, 2006, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited President Ilham Aliyev in Baku to mark the start of the “Year of Russian Culture” in Azerbaijan. The two presidents discussed economic cooperation, a military-technical commission to facilitate Russian military sales to Azerbaijan, and, presumably, Azerbaijan’s position on Iranian nuclear enrichment. Some analysts believe that Putin is pressuring Aliyev to support Russia in opposing UN sanctions against Iran and to weaken U.TENGRISM: IN SEARCH FOR CENTRAL ASIA’S SPIRITUAL ROOTS
By Marlene Laruelle (3/22/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: The Tengrist movement appeared in the 1990s in Central Asia and in Russia. It particularly developed in Tatarstan, where, since 1997, the only Tengrist periodical, Bizneng-Yul, has been published. It later spread throughout Central Asia.BALUCH UNREST IN PAKISTAN: STRIFE BETWEEN RIGHTS AND RESOURCES?
By Naveed Ahmad (3/8/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND:Spread over 350,000 square kilometers, Baluchistan remains extremely underdeveloped with only marginal access to education and health facilities, even in the major towns. The strategically placed energy-rich province bordering Afghanistan and Iran meets 40 percent of the country’s needs of natural gas. Marred by security threats from India and the absence of a consistent democratic regime, Pakistan has been mismanaged by successive governments since 1947.EFFECT OF THE RUSSIAN WAR ON CHECHEN CHILDREN: EXTREMISM IN THE YOUNG GENERATIONS?
By Murad Batal Shishani (3/8/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND:the two wars in Chechnya affected the humanitarian situation there significantly. Chechens suffers from countless health problems, in part due to attacks by Russian forces with weapons containing highly toxic substances. It has been established that 86 percent of the Chechens suffer from psychological disturbances; this is 30 percent more than the number of people suffering from mental problems in the areas around the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine following the 1984 explosion.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.