By Dmitry Shlapentokh (7/15/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Recent events suggest increasing Sino-Russian military cooperation, with the participation of several Central Asian countries. Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov proclaimed that Russia and China would hold up to 25 joint military maneuvers this year, plans that have are materializing. In May, Russia, China and three Central Asian countries engaged in military exercises in Tajikistan.
By Sebastien Peyrouse (7/15/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Since 2006, food security has become a major preoccupation for the states of Central Asia. The situation is particularly bad in Tajikistan, but cases of malnutrition are also multiplying in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan. In this context, the Kazakhstani cereals market, in constant development, has acquired a strategic character for the whole region, which is largely dependent on exports from Astana.
By Nicklas Norling (7/1/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Over the past few months, the Russian FSB and other state organs have been pouring out warnings on the imminence of a military conflict and insurgency in Central Asia. These warnings proved partially correct when a border post in Uzbekistan was attacked by militants in late May and a suicide bombing struck Andijan a few days later. To prevent further incursions, Uzbekistan even began digging a 10 feet wide "anti-tank" trench at its border with the Kyrgyz Republic.
By Stephen Blank (7/1/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Russia has announced it will no longer apply for World Trade Organization membership as a single state. Rather, it would only consider joining the WTO if it came in as the head of a customs union, i.e.
The Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst is a biweekly publication of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, a Joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center affiliated with the American Foreign Policy Council, Washington DC., and the Institute for Security and Development Policy, Stockholm. For 15 years, the Analyst has brought cutting edge analysis of the region geared toward a practitioner audience.
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