Field Reports
INFLUENCE OF RELIGIOUS HARDLINERS REMAINS IN AFGHANISTAN
By Daan van der Schriek (2/23/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In January, Afghan president Hamid Karzai reappointed eight of the nine judges of the country’s Supreme Court, although they have the reputation of being fundamentalist and most of them apparently fall short of the minimum education standards set down for Supreme Court judges in the constitution that was approved in January. The court’s deputy head Fazal Ahmad Manawi was the only member to be replaced, by Ayatollah Mohammad Hashim Salehi – the first Shia to be appointed to the court in predominantly Sunni Afghanistan.Members of the court are prohibited from being involved in politics.
NEW UZBEK GOVERNMENT TO KICKSTART REFORMS
By Atabek Rizayev (2/23/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov for the first time spoke at the opening of the newly elected bicameral Parliament on January 28. Prior to this, Mr. Karimov had signed a Decree on the formation of a new cabinet.IN SPITE OF CRITICISM, GEORGIAN MILITARY REFORMS PROVE SUCCESSFUL
By Kakha Jibladze (2/23/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The amount of money – and how it was spent during 2004-2005 – was an important issue addressed in the report. Its authors were disturbed by the fact that so much is spent on the minister and his administration. But people in positions of power normally receive good salaries.IS KAZAKHSTAN SUPPLYING CANON-FODDER TO RUSSIA?
By Marat Yermukanov (2/9/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
From the very start of Russia’s Chechen war Astana, anxious to avoid interethnic strife between its Russian and Chechen communities, assumed a highly ambiguous position on Moscow’s North Caucasus policy, neither condemning nor eagerly supporting the long-drawn campaign. This ambiguity generated many inconsistencies in Kazakhstan’s security partnership with Russia. Over the last three years the Interior Ministry of Kazakhstan did extradite a number of refugees from the North Caucasus, allegedly Chechen “terrorists”, to Russia.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.