Field Reports
THE GEORGIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS: CAMPAIGNING TO NO AVAIL
By Irakly Areshidze (5/22/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The local election campaign has dominated politics in Georgia for the last few weeks, even though more significant developments took place in the Georgian Parliament, where all Committee Chairmen were dismissed by a new \"procedural\" majority in early May and leadership positions were then divided amongst all 14 Parliamentary Factions. This was yet another significant blow to former Speaker of Parliament Zurab Zhvania, whose team used to control all of the most important committees. Zviad Mukhbaniani, a 28-year-old member of the pro-Shevardnadze Faction \"Alliance for New Georgia\" was appointed Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, while Irakli Batiashvili, Co-Chairman of the opposition New Rights Party, was appointed Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee.KAZAKHSTAN LAUNCHES A PROGRAM TO BOOST RURAL ECONOMY
By Marat Yermukanov, Kazakhstan (5/22/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The dramatic decline of the rural economy in the last ten years has been the cause of heated discussions in the Kazakh parliament on many occasions. Political factionsand opposition forces still harp on the subject, using growing unemployment, health risks, worsening educational opportunities, poor infrastructure, and the low income of farmers as an unassailable argument in their criticism of government policy. Such a tactic often bears fruits.NEW GASOLINE SHORTAGES IN UZBEKISTAN
By Erkin Akhmadov (11/28/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Uzbekistan's capital and many districts are suffering from yet another fuel crisis. Fuel shortages have become a regular occurrence in Uzbekistan since 2010. Severe shortages of gasoline in Tashkent were reported on November 13-14, two weeks earlier than last year. Car drivers queue for several hours to fill up their tanks, and are sometimes forced to wait through the night. No official explanations are given for the massive fuel shortages, leaving those affected to speculate on the reasons for their troubles.
KAZAKHSTAN’S OPPOSITION MEDIA RISK CRACKDOWN
By Georgiy Voloshin (11/28/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On November 21, the local prosecutor's office of Kazakhstan's Almaty region officially requested the provincial court to order an administrative closure of over forty print and online media outlets, including the Russian-language Respublika web-portal and the popular Vzglyad newspaper. The complaint also included the names of two television channels (K-Plus and Stan.tv) whose frequent reporting on Kazakhstan's domestic politics are widely considered as the most outspoken source of criticism of the country's President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his government, especially after the December 2011 bloody events in Zhanaozen.
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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.