Field Reports
NATO SECRETARY GENERAL VISITS GEORGIA
By Maka Gurgenidze (11/30/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and North Atlantic Council (NAC) diplomats visited Georgia on November 9-10. The visit incited Tbilisi’s hopes that the next Alliance summit will bring Georgia closer to NATO. Although Rasmussen appraised the NATO-Georgia partnership as “very special” and “solid,” he could not specify when Georgia may expect membership in the organization.
TAJIKISTAN FREES JAILED PILOTS UNDER PRESSURE FROM MOSCOW
By Alexander Sodiqov (11/30/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On November 22, a court in Tajikistan released two foreign pilots, including a Russian citizen, who two weeks earlier had been sentenced to lengthy terms in jail. The release of Vladimir Sadovnichy, a Russian citizen, and Alexei Rudenko, an Estonian citizen, has been prompted by an unusually strong backlash from Moscow that threatened to ruin Tajikistan’s economy.
Sadovnichy and Rudenko were flying their Antonov-72 cargo planes from Afghanistan to Russia on March 12 when Tajik air traffic controllers denied them permission to land for refueling at the Qurghonteppa (Kurgan-Tube) Airport in southern Tajikistan.
AN UNSUCCESSFUL YEAR OF ARMENIAN-IRANIAN COOPERATION
By Haroutiun Khachatrian (11/30/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Although Armenia has no energy resources of its own, it is rich in electricity-producing capacities and other energy infrastructure and is therefore anxious to become a regional hub in the operation of energy transmission and transportation, as well as in transportation of goods. In energy programs, it enjoys the support of two major energy producers, Russia and Iran.
In late 2010 to early 2011, it was reported that four joint Armenian-Iranian projects would be launched in 2011.
GEORGIA, RUSSIA ARRIVE AT WTO DEAL
By Maka Gurgenidze (11/16/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Georgia and Russia signed a bilateral agreement finalizing Russia’s entry terms in the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva on November 9. Tbilisi labeled the deal as a “diplomatic victory” for Georgia. Moscow also hailed the agreement, terming it a “huge success” driving Georgia in the “right direction.
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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.