Field Reports
ARMED CONFLICT ERUPTS IN TAJIKISTAN
By Suhrob Majidov (8/8/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On July 21, a Major General of the State Committee on National Security of Tajikistan (SCNST), Abdullo Nazarov was killed near Khorog, which is the major city of Gorno Badakhshan Autonomus Oblast (GBAO) in Tajikistan (known as the Pamir region). According to an official statement of the SCNST and the Tajik Ministry of Internal Affairs, the General was killed by a local criminal group.
BORDER INCIDENTS IN KAZAKHSTAN REVIVE APPREHENSIONS ABOUT NATIONAL SECURITY
By Georgiy Voloshin (8/8/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On May 30, a Kazakhstani border patrol operating in the country’s east made a gruesome discovery: 15 people who had been recruited to guard the Kazakh-Chinese border in a remote mountain outpost were found dead. Their charred bodies were scattered around the ruins of what used to be the wooden barracks of the Kazakh border protection service. Speaking at an extraordinary session of Kazakhstan’s National Security Council the following day, President Nursultan Nazarbayev called this incident a terrorist attack and promised to mobilize all available personnel of the Ministry of internal affairs, the National Security Committee and the Prosecutor General’s Office to investigate its circumstances.
NDI POLL SHOWS ADVANTAGE OF GEORGIAN RULING PARTY AHEAD OF ELECTIONS
By Eka Janashia (8/8/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Georgian ruling party – United National Movement (UNM) – has expressed its satisfaction with a National Democratic Institute (NDI)-commissioned poll, fielded by the Caucasus Resource Research Centers (CRRC) in June in Georgia, whereas the opposition coalition Georgian Dream (GD), led by Bidzina Ivanishvili denounced the poll results.
The NDI poll, released on July 16, covers the ratings of political parties and public attitudes regarding the most pressing policy issues in the country. It is based on a survey with the potential of plus/minus 2 percent deviation, and was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 6,299 respondents throughout Georgia.
AZERBAIJAN FAVORS TRANS-ANATOLIAN PIPELINE AND NABUCCO WEST
By Mina Muradova (8/8/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Azerbaijan is increasingly considering the Nabucco West project linked with the Trans-Anatolian natural gas pipeline (TANAP) as the best option for transporting Caspian gas to West European markets. Azerbaijan’s Industry and Energy Minister Natik Aliyev recently stated that “I consider that Nabucco West is the best option from all points of view because it is a project of the European Union and they always supported this project,” to reporters ahead of a formal decision.
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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.