News Digest
GEORGIA WARNS IT WILL INTERCEPT SHIPS BOUND FOR ABKHAZ PORTS
By empty (2/18/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Georgian National Security Council Secretary Tedo Djaparidze told Interfax on 18 February that Georgia intends to intercept and inspect vessels bound for Abkhaz ports in order to prevent trafficking in weapons and drugs. Abkhaz Deputy Defense Minister Gari Kupalba reacted to a similar statement by Georgian Border Guard Department official Korneli Salia last week. Kupalba warned that any attempt by Georgia to interfere with free navigation could lead to armed clashes at sea.GEORGIAN OFFICIALS CLAIM ABKHAZIA HARBORS WAHHABIS
By empty (2/18/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Addressing a Georgian government session on 15 February, State Security Minister Valeri Khaburzania claimed that Islamic militants who left Georgia\'s Pankisi Gorge last fall have taken refuge in regions of Abkhazia where they have joined forces with local criminals and pose a threat both to Georgia and the international community. Khaburzania claimed that some Wahhabis from Saudi Arabia who moved to Abkhazia have received Russian passports. Georgian National Security Council Secretary Djaparidze similarly said on 17 February that he cannot exclude the possibility that international terrorists, including members of Al-Qaeda, might have moved from Pankisi to Abkhazia.KAZAKH PRESIDENT LISTS BANKING SECTOR\'S PRIORITIES
By empty (2/14/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Addressing the third Congress of Kazakh Financiers, President Nursultan Nazarbaev expressed satisfaction on 14 February that Kazakhstan\'s banking sector and financiers are acknowledged to be among the best in the CIS. At the same time, he ordered the government to \"rein in\" inflation and tasked the government and the National Bank with drafting a new concept for developing the financial sector over the next few years. He further complained that the stock market is not developing as fast as it should and that investors show little interest in it.GEORGIAN OPPOSITION FIGURE CALLS ON PRESIDENT TO RESIGN
By empty (2/14/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Opposition National Movement leader Mikhail Saakashvili told a government session on 14 February that President Shevardnadze should leave office and take his supporters with him. Saakashvili also criticized the alleged illegal sale of land in Tbilisi and corruption in the police force. He challenged the minister of education to explain how a credit for reforming the education system was spent, and branded regional governor Levan Mamaladze a \"bandit.Visit also
Staff Publications
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, U.S. Policy in Central Asia through Central Asian Eyes, May 2023.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, "Promise and Peril in the Caucasus," AFPC Insights, March 30, 2023.
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Putin's War In Ukraine and the Crimean War), 19fourtyfive, January 2, 2023
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Russia Needs Its Own Charles de Gaulle, Foreign Policy, July 21, 2022.
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, Rethinking Greater Central Asia: American and Western Stakes in the Region and How to Advance Them, June 2022
Oped Svante E. Cornell & Albert Barro, With referendum, Kazakh President pushes for reforms, Euractiv, June 3, 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell Russia's Southern Neighbors Take a Stand, The Hill, May 6, 2022.
Silk Road Paper Johan Engvall, Between Bandits and Bureaucrats: 30 Years of Parliamentary Development in Kyrgyzstan, January 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell, No, The War in Ukraine is not about NATO, The Hill, March 9, 2022.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, Kazakhstan’s Crisis Calls for a Central Asia Policy Reboot, The National Interest, January 34, 2022.
Book S. Frederick Starr and Svante E. Cornell, Strong and Unique: Three Decades of U.S.-Kazakhstan Partnership, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, December 2021.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell, S. Frederick Starr & Albert Barro, Political and Economic Reforms in Kazakhstan Under President Tokayev, November 2021.