UKRAINIAN ELECTIONS COMPLICATE SOUTHERN ENERGY CORRIDOR
By Robert M. Cutler (2/17/2010 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Viktor Yanukovych came first in the presidential elections in Ukraine, but Yuliya Tymoshenko has instructed lawyers to bring to the courts evidence of voting irregularities to put Yanukovych’s margin of victory under question. Even if the latter is able to muster a negative majority to oust her from office and form his own parliamentary majority, he may be forced to call new parliamentary elections. Nevertheless, he has already moved on the energy front through floating new proposals, if not yet able to offer them formally for legislative consideration.
MOSCOW APPOINTS COMPROMISE CANDIDATE TO LEAD TROUBLED DAGESTAN
By Kevin Daniel Leahy (2/17/2010 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Kremlin has sprung something of a surprise by re-embracing the influential Magomedov clan in its efforts to bring stability to the republic of Dagestan. The head of this clan, Magomedali Magomedov, steered Dagestan through a difficult post-Soviet transition phase before finally being replaced in 2006. It is not entirely clear what lies behind the Kremlin’s change of heart regarding the utility of the Magomedov clan.
MEDVEDEV CREATES NEW ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICT IN RUSSIA’S SOUTH, NAMES KHLOPONIN AS ENVOY
By Kevin Daniel Leahy (2/3/2010 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On January 19, President Dmitri Medvedev finally made good on his pledge to invest one particular official with ‘personal responsibility’ for overseeing the situation in the Northern Caucasus. Alexander Khloponin is the president’s plenipotentiary representative to the ‘North Caucasus Federal District’, a new jurisdictional entity created by Medvedev, and has also been awarded the rank of a deputy prime minister in the federal government. Given that Medvedev has identified an underperforming economy as the main reason for the instability in the region, how does the new envoy propose to stimulate the economic situation there?
BACKGROUND: The new North Caucasus Federal District (SKFD) will include Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Karachaevo-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia and Stavropol Krai.
TURKMENISTAN-CHINA GAS PIPELINE BECOMES A REALITY
By Robert M. Cutler (2/3/2010 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The opening of the first segment of the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline last month is only one in a series of recent events in Caspian Sea basin energy developments. It signifies Turkmenistan’s first real moves to break its dependence upon Gazprom and the Russian state for international sales of its energy resources. These developments are to the detriment of Europe, which remains dependent upon Russia and Turkey as transit countries and has been unable to push forward the implementation of its Nabucco pipeline project.
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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.