Field Reports
GEORGIAN SPECIAL FORCES CLASH WITH MILITANTS AT RUSSIAN BORDER
By Eka Janashia (9/5/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Three Georgian Special Forces personnel and eleven militants were killed in northeastern Georgia close to the Dagestan section of the Georgian-Russian border, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) reported on August 29. The fierce clash between Georgian troops and a well-armed paramilitary group of around twenty people seemingly confirmed Tbilisi’s concerns about possible spillover of instability from the North Caucasus to Georgia and Russian attempts to destabilize the situation in the country prior to the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Five residents of the Georgian village Lapankuri, situated about twenty kilometers from the Georgian-Russian border, were captured by the militants while enjoying a picnic in a mountain forest in the vicinity of their homes, Georgian media reported on August 28.
Kazakhstan Marked International Day Against Nuclear Tests
By Georgiy Voloshin (9/5/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On August 29, Kazakhstan hosted an international conference entitled “From the ban on nuclear testing to a world free of nuclear weapons.” This high-level gathering attended by representatives of more than 70 countries from five continents was organized to commemorate the International Day against Nuclear Tests, which became a UN holiday in 2010 following Kazakhstan’s proposal. Twenty years ago, President Nazarbayev adopted one of his first decrees as the leader of an independent Kazakhstan, closing down the Semipalatinsk nuclear test facility, established by the Soviet Union in 1949, that served as a launching site for hundreds of missiles.
Speculations on a U.S. Military Presence in Uzbekistan
By Erkin Akhmadov (9/5/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake visited Uzbekistan on August 16 as a part of a tour to several Central Asian countries to present the “New Silk Road” strategy.
AZERBAIJAN PARDONS CONVICTED KILLER BY PRESIDENTIAL DECREE
By Mina Muradova (9/5/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
International mediators of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on Monday that Azerbaijan's decision to pardon an Azerbaijani soldier who killed an Armenian officer had damaged the peace process in the region.
The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group representing the U.
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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.