Field Reports

The U.S. Senate confirmed Richard Norland as the new ambassador to Georgia on March 29. A Foreign Service veteran, who worked in Georgia in the early 1990s in the capacity of the U.S. representative and acting head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia, will replace John Bass, the incumbent U.S. ambassador serving in Tbilisi since 2009. Norland has spent most of his 32 years of diplomatic service on U.S. relations with Russia and other former Soviet states. In different periods, he was a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Latvia, and U.S. ambassador to Uzbekistan.

On March 26 and 27, South Korea hosted the second World Nuclear Summit, which followed an inaugural gathering of world leaders in Washington in April 2010, where they had discussed the issues of non-proliferation and nuclear safety. This year’s high-profile event, attended by dozens of heads of state and government including the presidents of Russia, China, and the United States, highlighted Kazakhstan’s special place on the non-proliferation agenda. Twenty years ago, Nursultan Nazarbayev, elected as the first president of a sovereign Kazakhstan, ordered the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, where the first Soviet atomic bombs exploded back in 1949. This decision further materialized in a joint U.S.-Russian operation to remove remaining nuclear materials from the dismantled facilities.

The most recent dispute in Georgian politics contains serious allegations of government misconduct ahead of the October 2012 elections and ambitions to form armed militias to intimidate opposition supporters. The allegations come as campaigning for the parliamentary election in October gain speed and can be viewed in the context of a framing contest between the government and opposition that has been ongoing for several years, the ultimate price of which is the international legitimacy of power in Georgia. 

On March 14, Russia began transferring troops from Chechnya to the unstable highland- and forest districts in Central Dagestan. This move was effectuated after a series of violent events during the transition period between winter and spring had demonstrated that the aforementioned regions will very likely continue to be the core of the North Caucasus insurgency.

On March 19, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with the leaders of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEc) to discuss the prospects of regional integration. In his statement to the press, he reconfirmed the intention of EurAsEc member states to work out a comprehensive treaty establishing the Eurasian Economic Union by January 1, 2015. In this regard, the participating heads of state signed a preliminary agreement which launched formal consultations with a view to modifying the current legal basis of the EurAsEc by expanding its scope of action and providing it with more substantial executive powers. Another agreement, also signed during the meeting, formally empowers the Eurasian Economic Commission to implement the functions of a supreme supervisory body headed by Russia’s former minister for industry and trade.

Khadija Ismayilova, an outspoken Azerbaijani journalist with a reputation for investigating the “secret” business of President Ilham Aliyev’s family, has been targeted by threats and blackmail. She believes that ruling circles are behind the smearing campaign aiming to silence her, whereas officials deny any connection to the blackmailing.

On February 23, Tajikistan’s Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MEDT) announced that a group of Iranian companies had agreed to build an industrial town in the country. According to the ministry, the massive project will entail the construction of about 50 industrial enterprises including aluminum, cotton, and fruit processing plants, in Rudaki district near the Tajik capital Dushanbe. Experts suggest that the remaining enterprises might include plants producing construction materials, solar panels, power transformers, electricity usage meters, and light bulbs. The authorities expect that Tajikistan’s first industrial town will increase the country’s exports, while also reducing imports and creating about 20,000 new jobs.

On March 2, President Nazarbayev addressed members of the diplomatic corps at an annual gathering used to unveil Kazakhstan’s foreign policy priorities for each coming year. In a long speech delivered before the country’s political establishment and foreign ambassadors, Nazarbayev shared his strategic vision about the future of the Central Asian region and the role of Kazakhstan in international affairs.

The greeting speech of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan at the 9th Congress of Yerkrapah, the Union of the Karabakh war volunteers, demonstrated that this organization is a strong political force in Armenia and that the President will rely on its support in his pre-election strategy and his reform attempts.

Georgia lifted visa requirements for citizens of the Russian Federation on February 29; one day after Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced the initiative in his annual state of the nation address in the Georgian Parliament. Whereas the abolishment of the visa regime was the most striking point of president’s speech, a notable part was also dedicated to a development plan envisaging improvements in social and security policies.