Field Reports
KAZAKHSTAN LAUNCHES ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN
By Marat Yermukanov (6/14/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Speaking at the June 1 session of the Security Council, President Nursultan Nazarbayev erupted with harsh criticism of the unbridled bribery and cronyism among top government officials. In an unprecedented manner, he provided the names of crooked judges and high ranking officers of law-enforcement bodies bogged in the mire of bribery, and demanded the immediate dismissal of dozens of corrupt officials. Giving the reasons for such harsh measures, Nazarbayev stressed that Kazakhstan, in order to achieve the goal of joining the 50 most competitive countries of the world, should wage an uncompromising war on corruption as it poses a serious economic threat to the country.RISING FOOD PRICES IRK GEORGIANS AS AGRICULTURE FALTERS
By Kakha Jibladze (6/14/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
During a televised meeting with the president and other government officials, Minister of Agriculture Mikheil Svimonishvili announced that prices would continue to rise as long as Georgian farmers were not contributing to the market. According to him, the country imports even basic necessities, such as eggs and vegetables. Over the past several months, Georgians have seen the price of staples like sugar jump from a stable one lari to 1.UZBEK COMMUNITY IN KYRGYZSTAN WANT UZBEK AS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
By Joldosh Osmonov (6/14/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
400 delegates of the region’s Uzbek community on May 24, 2006, at the people’s kurultay in Uzbek National Cultural Center (UNCC) decided to hold a rally demanding designation of Uzbek as an official language in Jalalabad on May 27, 2006. The President of the UNCC Kadyrjan Batyrov stressed that the protest was not connected with the bigger opposition meeting in Bishkek scheduled the same day. Despite many promises by UNCC leaders on holding a meeting with several thousand participants, only 600-700 people took part in the protest.IMPROVING TAJIKISTAN’S BANKING SECTOR
By Bakhtiyor Naimov (5/31/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
A cumulative ca. US$30 million has been invested in and/or lent to various banks across the republic. Tajikistan is not rich with natural resources or land, which almost necessarily implies that small and medium enterprises and services’ sector should be targeted for the country to become self sufficient.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.