Field Reports
LANGUAGE CONTROVERSY IN KAZAKHSTAN SPARKS SOCIAL ANXIETY
By Georgiy Voloshin (10/5/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Since early September, Kazakhstan’s domestic politics have focused on a language controversy stemming from the publication of the so-called “Letter of 138,” in which a number of politicians, cultural workers and associative leaders called for an amendment of Article 7 of Kazakhstan’s constitution. The current reading of its second clause says that “the Russian language is officially used in state organs and local government authorities along with the Kazakh language.
RUSSIA AND FRANCE DEEPEN COOPERATION IN NORTH CAUCASUS
By Olof Staaf (10/5/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Over the course of three days, from September 16 to September 18, the tenth annual International Investment Forum was held in Sochi on Russia’s Black Sea coast. This year, the forum was primarily devoted to projects related to the 2014 Winter Olympics, but the signing of a new agreement concerning Moscow’s ambitious ski resort project in the North Caucasus also attracted some attention.
EU AND GEORGIA TO START FREE TRADE TALKS
By Maka Gurgenidze (10/5/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
A joint declaration adopted on September 30 at the EU Eastern Partnership summit envisages the launch of negotiations on a deep and comprehensive trade agreement (DCFTA) between the EU and Georgia by the end of this year. The document was approved in Warsaw by the leaders of EU member states and five of the Eastern Partnership countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
MAY 26 VIOLENCE SETS NEW RULES IN GEORGIAN POLITICS
By Maka Gurgenidze (6/8/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The dispersal of a protest rally turned violent at Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue on Georgia’s Independence Day. Riot police broke up an anti-government demonstration, led by former Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burjandze on May 26.
Visit also
Forums and Events
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.