Field Reports
KAZAKHSTAN HAILS ECONOMIC MODERNIZATION AND INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENT
By Georgiy Voloshin (5/25/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
After Nursultan Nazarbayev’s successful reelection to the presidency on April 4, Kazakhstan has hosted a string of high-profile economic meetings aimed at boosting its standing in global affairs and putting forward a number of proposals about how to further economic modernization and diversification in line with contemporary challenges to the world economy.
In the beginning of May, President Nazarbayev addressed the Fourth Astana Economic Forum, a large-scale gathering attended by more than 2,000 guests, including seven Nobel Prize winners, two former presidents, acting heads of government and prominent experts. Taking a leaf out of the book of last year’s Forum, in which most discussions focused on ways to overcome the consequences of the financial crisis, Nazarbayev called upon the international community to support his initiative of signing a global pact for joint regulation of the world economy.
SOCCER USED AS PROPAGANDA TOOL IN CHECHNYA
By Olof Staaf (5/25/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
No expenses were spared when Grozny’s new state of the art soccer stadium was inaugurated on May 11. The televised event was celebrated by fireworks, musical performances, and a high profile exhibition game between a team from the region and a team consisting of retired international stars led by Diego Armando Maradona.
The so called Team Kavkaz was mainly made up of former players from the local FC Terek Grozny and politicians like Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, President Medvedev’s personal envoy to the North Caucasus Aleksander Khloponin, Chechen Prime Minister Odes Baysultanov, and Kadyrov’s cousin Adam Delimkhanov, who is also Chechnya’s representative to the Russian State Duma.
THE POLITICAL RAMIFICATIONS OF AZERBAIJAN’S EUROVISION VICTORY
By Mina Muradova (5/25/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The victory in the Eurovision song contest has provided a unique opportunity for Azerbaijan to promote its culture and tourism to the world. While the international community thinks the victory should encourage the country to improve its human rights record, domestic observes do not rule out that it could be used for political benefits in the 2013 presidential elections.
Hundreds of people left their houses at the night of May 14 and gathered in downtown Baku to celebrate the small former Soviet republic’s unexpected victory in the Eurovision song contest.
AZERBAIJAN TO LAUNCH SATELLITE IN 2012
By Mina Muradova (5/11/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The U.S. has approved a credit line to finance Azerbaijan’s first communication satellite despite strong opposition from Armenian lobby groups in the U.
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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.