By Gulnara Ismailova (3/12/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The world community is revitalizing efforts to settle the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and to normalize relations between Yerevan and Baku on the one hand, and between Yerevan and Ankara on the other. Between 13 and 15 May, two meetings were held almost simultaneously in order to pursue these aims. Under the patronage of the cochairmen of the OSCE\'s Minsk group, the personal representatives of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, deputy ministers of foreign affairs Araz Azimov and Tatul Markaryan, held a meeting.

By Irakly Areshidze (5/22/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The local election campaign has dominated politics in Georgia for the last few weeks, even though more significant developments took place in the Georgian Parliament, where all Committee Chairmen were dismissed by a new \"procedural\" majority in early May and leadership positions were then divided amongst all 14 Parliamentary Factions. This was yet another significant blow to former Speaker of Parliament Zurab Zhvania, whose team used to control all of the most important committees. Zviad Mukhbaniani, a 28-year-old member of the pro-Shevardnadze Faction \"Alliance for New Georgia\" was appointed Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, while Irakli Batiashvili, Co-Chairman of the opposition New Rights Party, was appointed Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee.

By Marat Yermukanov, Kazakhstan (5/22/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The dramatic decline of the rural economy in the last ten years has been the cause of heated discussions in the Kazakh parliament on many occasions. Political factionsand opposition forces still harp on the subject, using growing unemployment, health risks, worsening educational opportunities, poor infrastructure, and the low income of farmers as an unassailable argument in their criticism of government policy. Such a tactic often bears fruits.