Field Reports
SMUGGLING AND CORRUPTION CONTINUE TO PLAGUE GEORGIA
By Kakha Jibladze (3/23/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Since coming to power, President Saakashvili has implemented a loud – and at times violent – war against smuggling and corruption. Sixteen Georgian soldiers and an unknown number of South Ossetians died over the summer after an operation to close the Ergneti black market in the separatist region led to clashes with the local population. Although there have been reports that the crackdown reduced the amount of contraband coming into the country, it obviously did not stop the problem.NO PROGRESS IN NURISTAN
By Daan van der Schriek (3/23/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Nuristan is a world on its own. Located in the northwest of Afghanistan and bordering Pakistan, it is isolated from the rest of the country by mountains of up to 6,000 meters. Bad roads that are usually blocked in winter add to the region’s isolation that was an important supply route for the Afghan mujahedin in the war against the Soviets in the 1980s.A ‘TULIP’ REVOLUTION DEVELOPS IN KYRGYZSTAN?
By Maral Madi (3/23/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
As a result of the two rounds of parliamentary elections, the pro-government parties Alga Kyrgyzstan, Adilet and the Democratic Party of Women and Youth secured a total of 25 out of 75 available seats, and the rest were mainly distributed among pro-presidential independents, including businessmen. As the opposition got about five places, 90% of the new parliament will be pro-presidential. President Askar Akaev’s daughter and one son are represented there.PASSPORT CRISIS IN KYRGYZSTAN
By Nazgul Baktybekova (3/9/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The process of introduction of new Kyrgyz passports began almost a year ago with the support of the international community which raised concerns regarding the 1994 passports saying that they were not protected and were easy to forge. The new document is to offer greater protection consistent with international standards and to fight such transnational crimes as human trafficking, international terrorism and organized crime.In contrast to the current passport, which is filled in by hand, the new passport is designed with the application of the latest technology.
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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.