NATO DEEPENS ITS PARTNERSHIP WITH CENTRAL ASIA
By Roger N McDermott (11/17/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Some progress was made on the diplomatic front, amidst the predictable accolades heaped on each state for their cooperation in the War on Terror. Uzbekistan has proven strategically important and remains so, given its proximity to Afghanistan where NATO’s has its peacekeeping role. However, many human rights groups have criticized western governments for their close military and security cooperation with Tashkent, raising potential problems in plotting a stable long-term course between NATO and Uzbekistan.REACTIVATING THE ECO: A MYTH?
By Asma Shakir Khwaja (11/3/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: During the summit, leaders vowed to reactivate the ECO. Pakistan was the torchbearer of this idea. While reasserting Pakistani President Musharaff’s “enlightened moderation” as a prescription for peace & harmony, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz proposed a strategy, which calls for result-oriented policies within ECO, suggesting that an implementation mechanism should be devised by member states.THE DESTRUCTION OF YUKOS AND THE SLOWDOWN OF RUSSIAN CASPIAN PROJECTS
By Pavel K. Baev (11/3/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: The spectacular arrest of Khodorkovsky by a large detachment of special forces has led to a protracted court case where the prosecution faces embarrassing setbacks in making its case. In parallel, an avalanche of claims on underpaid taxes for 2000-2002 has swept Yukos, so that its most valued asset, Yuganskneftegaz, is now undergoing pre-sale evaluations accompanied by loud scandals. It is quite clear that the original plan designed somewhere in the Kremlin corridors that the corrupt ‘oligarch’ would give up his ‘energy jewels’ for a one-way ticket from Russia has failed because Khodorkovsky refused to play along.AZERBAIJAN UNDER IRANIAN AND RUSSIAN PRESSURE ON RELATIONS TO U.S.
By Fariz Ismailzade (11/3/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Since the independence of Azerbaijan was restored in 1991, the political leadership of the country has followed a foreign policy course toward integration with Western political, economic and security institutions. This has particularly intensified since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, after which Azerbaijan joined the U.S.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.