THE DESTRUCTION OF YUKOS AND THE SLOWDOWN OF RUSSIAN CASPIAN PROJECTS
By Pavel K. Baev (11/3/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: The spectacular arrest of Khodorkovsky by a large detachment of special forces has led to a protracted court case where the prosecution faces embarrassing setbacks in making its case. In parallel, an avalanche of claims on underpaid taxes for 2000-2002 has swept Yukos, so that its most valued asset, Yuganskneftegaz, is now undergoing pre-sale evaluations accompanied by loud scandals. It is quite clear that the original plan designed somewhere in the Kremlin corridors that the corrupt ‘oligarch’ would give up his ‘energy jewels’ for a one-way ticket from Russia has failed because Khodorkovsky refused to play along.AZERBAIJAN UNDER IRANIAN AND RUSSIAN PRESSURE ON RELATIONS TO U.S.
By Fariz Ismailzade (11/3/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Since the independence of Azerbaijan was restored in 1991, the political leadership of the country has followed a foreign policy course toward integration with Western political, economic and security institutions. This has particularly intensified since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, after which Azerbaijan joined the U.S.FINANCING RUSSIA’S CENTRAL ASIAN EXPANSION
By Gregory Gleason (11/3/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: More than a decade of experience of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) demonstrates the substantial barriers facing integration among the Eurasian countries. The CIS was originally established in 1991 for two purposes—to contribute to the collective security of the post-Soviet countries and to maintain the “common economic space” of the Soviet period. The CIS’s economic purpose proved more challenging than its framers anticipated.ARE AFGHANISTAN’S ELECTIONS A WATERSHED?
By Stephen Blank (10/20/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND:Many of the fears cited above remain valid, even if the conclusion they seemingly pointed to has not taken place. NATO still does not have enough troops outside of Kabul and members are stalling on effecting major command reforms that would unite this force with the American led force and thus ensure unity of command, as well as multiplying those forces’ strike and peace support capabilities. There seems to be no good reason for this stalling and undoubtedly NATO secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is tired of going around with a begging bowl, to use his words, to get members to contribute to a commitment which they freely made.Visit also
Staff Publications
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, U.S. Policy in Central Asia through Central Asian Eyes, May 2023.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, "Promise and Peril in the Caucasus," AFPC Insights, March 30, 2023.
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Putin's War In Ukraine and the Crimean War), 19fourtyfive, January 2, 2023
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Russia Needs Its Own Charles de Gaulle, Foreign Policy, July 21, 2022.
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, Rethinking Greater Central Asia: American and Western Stakes in the Region and How to Advance Them, June 2022
Oped Svante E. Cornell & Albert Barro, With referendum, Kazakh President pushes for reforms, Euractiv, June 3, 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell Russia's Southern Neighbors Take a Stand, The Hill, May 6, 2022.
Silk Road Paper Johan Engvall, Between Bandits and Bureaucrats: 30 Years of Parliamentary Development in Kyrgyzstan, January 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell, No, The War in Ukraine is not about NATO, The Hill, March 9, 2022.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, Kazakhstan’s Crisis Calls for a Central Asia Policy Reboot, The National Interest, January 34, 2022.
Book S. Frederick Starr and Svante E. Cornell, Strong and Unique: Three Decades of U.S.-Kazakhstan Partnership, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, December 2021.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell, S. Frederick Starr & Albert Barro, Political and Economic Reforms in Kazakhstan Under President Tokayev, November 2021.