Field Reports
POLICING VICE IN RUSSIA’S NORTH CAUCASUS
By Gregory Zalasky and Alexander Metelitsa (8/18/2010 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Through June 2010, the levels of violence in Russia’s North Caucasus mirror the amount of attacks that occurred in the region during 2009. Despite policy changes by the Kremlin, such as the official end of the counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya and the establishment of the North Caucasus Federal District, attacks against state security organs continue unabated. In fact, members of the Islamic militancy have displayed signs of becoming bolder, not only in their attacks against the state, but also in their attempts to control civilian activities and enforce their own moral standards.
IRAN INTERFERES IN TAJIK-UZBEK RAIL DISPUTE
By Alexander Sodiqov (7/21/2010 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Speaking to journalists in Dushanbe on July 12, 2010, the visiting head of the Iranian president’s office, Esfandiyar Rahim-Masha’i, accused Uzbekistan of causing a six-month delay in the launch of the first unit of the Sangtuda-2 hydroelectric power station (HEPS) – Iran’s US$ 180 million investment project in southern Tajikistan – by holding up Tajikistan-bound freight cars with construction materials. Uzbekistan has been delaying the transit of hundreds of Tajik trains since February 2010, attributing the interruptions to “technical and logistical” issues. However, many observers believe that Uzbekistan’s blockade of Tajik cargo transit through its railway network is an attempt to force Dushanbe to abandon the controversial Rogun HEPS project, which Tashkent has long been opposing.
U.S. AIMS TO EXPAND ITS PRESENCE IN UZBEKISTAN
By Erkin Akhmadov (7/21/2010 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Recent developments in Central Asia seem to have affected relations between the U.S. and Uzbekistan positively.
CLINTON UNDERLINES THE IMPORTANCE OF GEORGIAN CIVIL SOCIETY
By Maka Gurgenidze (7/21/2010 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, presented the U.
Visit also
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.