By Kakha Jibladze (2/22/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Regardless of who was ultimately responsible for the damage – Russia maintains it was terrorists while Georgia is unconvinced – millions of Georgians suffered through record cold temperatures without gas or electricity for over a week. In Tbilisi, where natural gas is normally supplied, citizens waited in line for hours to fill plastic containers with fuel.

The Georgian government took several steps to provide for the population quickly.

By Zoya Pylenko (2/22/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

According to Tajik authorities the (armed) IMU has become increasingly active since the uprising in the Uzbek city of Andijon in May last year, which was subsequently violently repressed. It is difficult to verify such claims. But according to the prosecutor’s office for northern Tajikistan, the IMU has by now again become more dangerous than the other banned (but purportedly peaceful) Islamic movement, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, which wants to establish a world-wide Islamic caliphate.

By Muhammad Tahir (2/8/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

According to the UNDP’s report for 2005, the Aral Sea, once considered one of the world’s largest inland lakes, is now not only losing this position but is also turning into a disaster zone for surrounding regions, affecting Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and now Turkmenistan. The Sea has increasingly become a dead body of water, leaving behind a harmful layer of chemicals, pesticides and natural salts blown by the wind into noxious dust storms. This not only raises tremendous health risks, but also creates huge economic problems for the region.