News Digest
TAJIK PRESIDENT ACKNOWLEDGES DEBT TO RUSSIA
By empty (9/6/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In an extensive interview published in "Trud" on 5 September and pegged to the 10th anniversary of Tajikistan's independence, Imomali Rakhmonov admitted that it is not certain whether Tajikistan would have survived 10 years as an independent state without Russian assistance. He added that preserving "Tajikistan's sovereignty and self-sufficiency depends first and foremost on geopolitical priorities." As he has done in several earlier interviews this year, Rakhmonov also expressed his hope of raising economic cooperation with Russia to the level of military cooperation.RUSSIA OFFERS ANOTHER REACTOR TO IRAN
By empty (9/4/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Russian deputy minister for atomic energy says Moscow will propose building further nuclear reactors in the southern Iranian port of Bushehr. Russia is already constructing a nuclear power plant there, but the deputy minister, Yevgeny Reshetnikov, said Tehran could order at least one more reactor from the Russians. The announcement comes as the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, who is in Moscow, is expected to ask Russia to scale down its military and nuclear exports to Iran.DALAI LAMA 'REFUSED' RUSSIAN VISA
By empty (9/4/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has cancelled a visit to Mongolia after Russia refused to grant him a transit visa, a senior Tibetan official has said. The Dalai Lama had been due to visit Mongolia, which has a large Buddhist community, between 3 and 17 September. He needed a visa to fly via Russia on his way from India to the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator.KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT AIMS TO DOUBLE GDP
By empty (9/3/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In his annual address to both houses of Kazakhstan's parliament on 3 September, Nursultan Nazarbaev said the country must double GDP by 2010 from last year's level of 2.59 trillion tenges ($13.8 billion).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.