EDUCATION REFORMS IN TURKMENISTAN: WHERE WILL IT GO?
By Rafis Abazov (1/9/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In January 2008, government officials in Turkmenistan reiterated their commitment to education reforms and announced a 46 percent increase in budgetary spending on schools and universities. These steps come on top of a 40 percent increase of educational spending in 2007. These public announcements also intensified heated debates about the state of education in Turkmenistan and the direction of the reforms: should the reforms be oriented toward open private initiatives and fee-based education (the American market-oriented model) or should the education system remain subsidized and state-supported as in north European countries?
BACKGROUND: Turkmenistan entered independence with a strong commitment to radically reform its education system.
RUSSIA’S CFE SUSPENSION WORRIES ITS SOUTHERN NEIGHBORS
By Richard Weitz (1/9/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On December 12, the Russian government “suspended†its obligations regarding the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty. The immediate effect of the suspension, an option not even provided for in the original 1990 treaty, has been that Moscow has stopped providing information about the size, location, and activities of its military forces west of the Ural Mountains, the Russian territory covered by the treaty. Another consequence, however, has been to exacerbate security concerns in countries located near Russia, especially in Georgia and Turkey.
KARABAKH IN MADRID: GREAT POWERS SEEK CONTINUITY IN THE PEACE PROCESS IN TURBULENT YEAR AHEAD
By Haroutiun Khachatrian (1/9/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
At the December 2007 Madrid summit of the OSCE, the co-chairs of the Minsk group presented a new document on resolving the Mountainous Karabakh conflict. This was the first such initiative by the co-chairs since 1998. It may reflect the wish of the great powers to secure guarantees that the progress reached so far in the negotiation process is not lost, and that the conflicting parties will not abort the negotiation process under the aegis of the OSCE Minsk group following presidential elections to be held in both countries this year.
AFGHAN-PAKISTANI DIFFERENCES REMAIN DESPITE RECENT AMERICAN INITIATIVES
By Richard Weitz (11/14/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
U.S. policy makers have pursued several initiatives to reduce tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan in order to encourage both governments to concentrate their attention on countering the Taliban and al-Qaeda members operating on their territories.
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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.