News Digest
14 November 2007 News Digest
By Alima Bissenova (11/14/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Moscow says Tbilisi unwilling to settle conflicts peacefully 1 November The Russian Foreign Ministry has declared that Georgia's actions against peacekeepers in the Georgian- Abkhaz conflict zone on October 30 were a provocation. "The new action of Georgia, with the involvement of top-ranking officials, confirmed that the CIS collective peacekeeping force is being provoked, the unwillingness to resolve problems through peaceful negotiations and the threat to use force, including military force," says a report posted by the ministry's information and press department on Thursday. (Interfax)
Kazakhstan oil tax crackdown
2 December
Kazakhstan warned international oil companies at the weekend to stop living “in ancient times†as it prepared to tighten the fiscal regime at oilfields and increase state ownership of its flagship Caspian Sea development.
31 October 2007 News Digest
By Alima Bissenova (11/1/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Uzbekistan President to visit Turkmenistan
17 October
The President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov will visit Turkmenistan on October 18. The President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov informed at the session of the cabinet of ministers of Turkmenistan, the agency reports referring to the press service of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan. During the meeting of the leaders of two states the parties will exchange opinions on prospects of mutual relations, regional cooperation, economic integration and safety.
17 October 2007 News Digest
By Alima Bissenova (10/17/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Armenian foreign minister: We have no intentions to use Kosovo as precedent for Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement
4 October
3 October 2007 News Digest
By Alima Bissenova (10/16/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
KAZAKH MINISTER MEETS WITH EU ENERGY COMMISSIONER OVER OIL FIELD DISPUTE20 SeptemberKazakh Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sauat Mynbaev met on September 20 in Brussels with visiting European Union Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs to discuss the dispute between the Kazakh authorities and an Italian-led consortium over operations at the offshore Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea. Piebalgs called on the Kazakh government to continue negotiations with the consortium, adding that "successful cooperation in the energy sector" requires "mutual respect, transparency, and predictability." The meeting follows Mynbaev's recent call for "an open dialogue" to resolve the dispute, which culminated in Kazakhstan's suspension of operations at the Kashagan oil field for three months due to alleged violations of environmental-protection laws and consistent delays and cost overruns by Eni, the consortium in charge of operations.
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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.