Field Reports
HANDLING OF RUSSIAN SPY SCANDAL IN BAKU REFLECTS FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES
By Azer Karimov (2/6/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Past week, two spy scandals erupted in Baku, both linked to the Russian secret services. On the first occasion, the head of security at Baku International Airport, Emil Suleymanov, was arrested on charges of espionage on behalf of Russia. Apparently, Suleymanov and his staffers put listening devices in the special VIP room, where President Ilham Aliyev would chat with his advisors prior to departures.
TURKMEN-UZBEK RAPROACHMENT REACHES A NEW PHASE IN ASHGABAT
By Chemen Durdiyeva (2/6/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On January 31, Ashgabat hosted the third session of the Turkmen-Uzbek intergovernmental commission on trade, economy, science and technology and a humanitarian partnership. The main subject of the bilateral summit was dedicated to making effective use of the countries’ economic and humanitarian potential. As the bilateral forum was leaping forward, a broad exhibition of Uzbekistan’s goods and services, businesses, culture and traditions was also staged in the Exhibition Palace in Ashgabat.
TAJIKISTAN ONCE AGAIN PLUNGES INTO DARKNESS AND COLD
By Sergey Medrea (2/6/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
This year’s winter is the coldest in the last 25 years in Tajikistan, what people call a Russian winter. Winter brought not only unusually heavy snowfalls and very low temperatures, but also the usual, yet despondent power shortages. Tajikistan has been experiencing these during winter for several years now, but this year seems to be particularly miserable, being coupled with severe weather conditions and rising gas and food prices.
HISTORIC SUMMIT BETWEEN AZERBAIJAN AND TURKMENISTAN EXPECTED
By Fariz Ismailzade (1/23/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Azerbaijani news agency APA, quoting the embassy of Azerbaijan in Turkmenistan, reported in January that Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguli Berdimukhammedov is expected to pay a visit to the Azerbaijani capital. The visit will take place in the first half of 2008, and at the moment, negotiations are taking place between the two countries’ governments to finalize the list of documents and agreements to be signed.
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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.