By Sebastien Peyrouse (5/20/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The vast majority of the population of Central Asia adheres to the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam. But in addition to the Tajik Ismailis—who live in an autonomous region in the Pamirs and are followers of Aga Khan—the region also has a Twelver Shiite minority of Azeris and Ironis. They are only able to practice their faith under relatively difficult, sometimes illegal, conditions.
By Kevin Daniel Leahy (5/20/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Recent developments in Pakistan’s Swat valley have demonstrated how a government’s policy of non-negotiation with those they term ‘terrorists’ can quickly come asunder in the face of overlapping political, socio-economic and military challenges. Given the comparable challenges it faces in the North Caucasus region, Russia’s leadership has likely been closely monitoring the Pakistani government’s somewhat unorthodox efforts to quell the Swat insurgency. For the Sharia-based administrative entity that emerged, however briefly, in Swat closely resembles the type of state Doku Umarov and his followers would happily establish in the North Caucasus if given the chance.
By Alman Mir Ismail (5/6/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The EU and U.S.
By Richard Weitz (5/6/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In recent weeks, the Russian government has taken steps to consolidate its hold over the two breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as well as affirm that all of Georgia falls within its zone of influence. Although desiring to improve relations with Moscow, NATO governments have rightly contested these Russian actions, which threaten to further weaken Western governments’ already diminished influence in Eurasia.
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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