FOREIGN FIGHTERS AND THE CHECHEN RESISTANCE: A RE-APPRAISAL
By Cerwyn Moore (6/13/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The death of Abu Hafs Al-Urdani, the Jordanian ‘Amir’ of the Arab fighters in Chechnya, points towards a series of further questions about foreign influence and radicalisation of elements of the Chechen separatist movement. The death of Abu Hafs seems to indicate the success that pro-Kremlin forces are having isolating and eliminating foreign fighters in so-called ‘special operations’. Indeed, Hafs was one in a succession of figures that pro-Kremlin forces have targeted and ‘liquidated’ over the last six years.
PUTIN’S GABALA GAMBIT: MORE THAN MISSILES
By Stephen Blank (6/13/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
While Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to reduce spiraling East-West tensions by proposing that the U.S. and Russia jointly operate a radar at Gabala that Russia leases from Azerbaijan, his Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, called for a halt to the plans for missile defenses in Europe and urged restudy of the entire proposal.
THE GABALA GAMBIT AND AZERBAIJAN’S GEOPOLITICS
By Richard Weitz (6/13/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-8 summit effectively encouraged the United States and its NATO allies to relocate the core of their missile defense architecture from East-Central Europe to the Caucasus region, specifically Azerbaijan’s Gabala radio station. The realization of Putin’s proposal would bring Russia considerable strategic benefits in the region and elsewhere. It is less clear, however, that Azerbaijan and it neighbors would derive equal advantages from its implementation.
BERDIMUKHAMMEDOV BASES TURKMEN-KAZAKH RELATIONS ON ‘PRAGMATISM’
By Chemen Durdiyeva (6/13/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On May 28-29, 2007, Turkmenistan’s President Kurbangeldy Berdimukhammedov paid a two-day official visit to Astana, Kazakhstan. Having met with his counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev and the head of the Kazakh Senate, he signed a number of long-term agreements in the sphere of trade, economics, military, culture and education. Within this context, Berdimukhammedov’s visit to Kazakhstan is his fourth official visit as head of state in six weeks.
Visit also
Staff Publications
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, Greater Central Asia as A Component of U.S. Global Strategy, October 2024.
Analysis Laura Linderman, "Rising Stakes in Tbilisi as Elections Approach," Civil Georgia, September 7, 2024.
Analysis Mamuka Tsereteli, "U.S. Black Sea Strategy: The Georgian Connection", CEPA, February 9, 2024.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell, ed., Türkiye's Return to Central Asia and the Caucasus, July 2024.
Book Svante E. Cornell, ed., "The Changing Geopolitics of Central Asia and the Caucasus" AFPC Press/Armin LEar, 2023.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell and S. Frederick Starr, Stepping up to the “Agency Challenge”: Central Asian Diplomacy in a Time of Troubles, July 2023.
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, U.S. Policy in Central Asia through Central Asian Eyes, May 2023.