EXPECTATIONS OF ROSE REVOLUTION PROVE PREMATURE IN ARMENIA
By Arman Grigorian (6/16/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Robert Kocharian’s legitimacy and authority in Armenia has been questioned and challenged repeatedly since he came to power after president Ter-Petrossian’s resignation in February 1998, as the constitutionality of the events leading to the resignation was questioned. This was followed by charges of rigged elections in 1998, reinforced by criticisms from international observers. Kocharian’s problems were exacerbated when less than a year later, Vazgen Sargissian – the powerful Armenian defense minister and erstwhile Kocharian supporter – formed an alliance with Kocharian’s challenger in the 1998 presidential elections, Karen Demirchyan.EUROPE AND THE CAUCASUS: IN SEARCH FOR A PURPOSE
By Svante Cornell (6/2/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: The European Union’s relationship with the South Caucasus has been perplexing for several years. European states, individually and collectively, are significant donors to the South Caucasus: a billion Euro worth of aid has been allocated since the early 1990s, with little to show for it. In fact, European policy in the South Caucasus has been characterized variously as a “costly failure” or as a policy of “splendid isolation”.OVERFISHING OF STURGEON COULD HARM AZERBAIJAN’S CAVIAR EXPORT
By Gulnara Ismailova (6/2/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: The environmental situation developing in the Caspian basin has been receiving increasing attention, in parallel to the discovery and extraction of large amounts of oil from the Caspian. If one of the reasons for the Caspian sea’s fame is oil, another is the fishing of valuable breeds of sturgeon, especially the Beluga. The Caspian Sea is the preserve of 90% of the world’s sturgeon population.A NEW SILK ROAD? TAJIKISTAN-CHINA BORDER CROSSING OPENS
By Sultonbek Aksakalov (6/2/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: China and Tajikistan established diplomatic relations a year after Tajikistan’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Since then, the two countries have strengthened bilateral cooperation in economy, security, anti-narcotic efforts and environmental protection, rendering support to each other in international affairs. Both Chinese and Tajik government have often claimed that the border between China and Tajikistan will become a site of peace and friendship between the two geographical neighbors, political allies and economic partners.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.