Field Reports
IRAN’S LATEST INVESTMENT PLEDGE RAISES QUESTIONS IN TAJIKISTAN
By Alexander Sodiqov (3/7/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
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.
PRESIDENT NAZARBAYEV CHARTS OUT KAZAKHSTAN’S FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES
By Georgiy Voloshin (3/7/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
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.
One of the most surprising highlights in the Kazakh president’s statement was his harsh criticism of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which Kazakhstan chaired in 2010, even managing to hold a summit after an 11-year impasse.
YERKRAPAH UNION DECLARES SUPPORT FOR ARMENIAN PRESIDENT
By Haroutiun Khachatrian (3/7/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
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.
Vazgen Sargsyan, later one of the founders of the national Armenian army that was still under formation after the breakdown of the Soviet Union, created
Union Yerkrapah (Country Keeper in Armenian) in 1992. The organization united fighters who voluntarily arrived in Armenia or Nagorno-Karabakh and fought there until the regular armies of Armenia and the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic were formed.
GEORGIA GRANTS VISA-FREE TRAVEL TO RUSSIAN CITIZENS
By Maka Gurgenidze (3/7/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
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.
According to Saakashvili, the plan presented for the years 2012-2015 involves five aspects: employment, agriculture, healthcare, democratic reforms and security, and aim at ensuring a more equal distribution of the country’s economic progress in recent years.
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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.