AFGHANISTAN’S TRADE WITH CENTRAL ASIA REVIVES
By Nicklas Norling (4/27/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
A milestone has been reached in Afghanistan. For the first time in almost a century, Afghanistan’s regional trading network is up and running after the Soviet border split the region in 1917 and Afghan tradesmen are now trading with partners in all directions. Recent data from Afghanistan’s Central Statistics Organization (CSO) suggests that Afghanistan’s licit trade with the Central Asian republics is now surpassing trade with Pakistan and India.
SOCAR-DEPA GAS DEAL FAVORS ITGI AS AZERBAIJAN’S STRATEGIC CHOICE
By Gulmira Rzayeva (4/27/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The recent SOCAR-DEPA gas deal demonstrated Greece’s and Azerbaijan’s political support for ITGI at the highest level. The gas sale contract to Greece via Turkey implies the official opening of the Southern Corridor, and that the long-awaited strategic choice of SOCAR and the Shah Deniz Consortium will likely be ITGI and TAP. Thus, the Southern Gas Corridor could open with these two projects instead of Nabucco.
GEORGIA SUFFERS SET-BACK AT THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE, BUT WINS ACCEPTANCE OF RUSSIA AS A CONFLICT PARTY
By Johanna Popjanevski (4/13/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On April 1 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that it lacked jurisdiction with regard to a claim filed by Georgia in August 2008, concerning acts of cleansing and discrimination of ethnic Georgians before and during the Georgia-Russia war. The Court’s unusually strong emphasis on procedural requirements, along with divided views among its members, suggests that the Court had difficulties tackling the political dimensions of the case.
KAZAKHSTAN TAKES UNIVERSITIES GLOBAL
By Rafis Abazov (4/13/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Since independence, Kazakhstan has actively experimented with education reforms in order to train its own specialists for the country’s rapidly expending economy.
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Joint Center Publications
Analysis Niklas Swanström and Leah Oppenheimer, "Invisible Ink: Looking for the Lost Trade between China, Russia, and Central Asia", ISDP Policy Brief, 13 March 2013. 
New Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr with Adib Farhadi, Finish the Job: Jump-Start the Afghan Economy, December 2012.
Conference Report Cheryl Benard, Eli Sugarman, and Holly Rehm, Cultural Heritage vs. Mining on the New Silk Road? Finding Technical Solutions for Mes Aynak and Beyond (in cooperation with the Alliance for the Restoration of Cultural Heritage) December 2012.
Article Svante E. Cornell, "The 'Afghanization of the North Caucasus: Causes and Implications of a Changing Conflict", in Stephen Blank, ed., Russia's Homegrown Insurgency: Jihad in the North Caucasus, Carlisle, PA: U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, 2012.