By Maia Mindorashvili, a Tbilisi-based independent expert (6/20/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Since Spring 2001 the representatives of the Russian "peacekeeping forces" have been acting in concert with Georgian and Abkhazian criminals to redistribute spheres of influence in Abkhazia. These key players need to keep a fragile "stability" in the Gali region of Southern Abkhazia, and to bring the region's Georgian population under absolute control. These intentions are well illustrated by the clashes that arose between criminals groups in April and May in Gali.

By Shairbek Juraev, American University in Kyrgyzstan (7/4/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)

With the arrival of summer, the problem of water for irrigation is becomes increasingly urgent in the Central Asian republics. With their considerable cultivated lands, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are looking at a substantial water shortage this summer. By producing electricity this past winter, Kyrgyzstan delivered considerable amounts of water to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in non-irrigation season from its reservoirs.

By Nadezhda Romanchuk and Nasiba Hudaibergenova, students at the department of International and Compar (7/4/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)

An unprecedented outbreak of migration from Kyrgyzstan started in the early 1990s, after the republic gained its independence. The growth of social and economic problems, and regional conflicts in nearby states such as Tajikistan and Afghanistan, are leading to intensification of destructive migration processes. The migration-related yearly decrease in population reached its peak in 1993, when it was estimated at 121 thousand people.