Wednesday, 17 May 2006
AMERICA STRIKES BACK? GEOPOLITICAL RIVALRY IN CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS
By Stephen Blank (5/17/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: The statements and intentions coming out of Washington do not herald the advance of a new Cold War, as some of the more hysterical comments coming out of Moscow indicated, but the could very well signify an end to strategic partnership. More precisely, they do signify Washington\'s realization, albeit rather late in the game, that geopolitical rivalry in the borderlands is for real and not as former State Department officials claimed, a “mug’s game.†Win-win solutions involving Moscow and Washington are unlikely to be broached by Washington, and it may more forthrightly acknowledge that a rivalry in these areas exists.
Wednesday, 03 May 2006
ENVIRONMENTAL RAMIFICATIONS OF THE RUSSIAN WAR ON CHECHNYA
By Murad Batal al-Shishani (5/3/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND:This development calls to mind the policy of the Tsarist General Yermolov, who came to Chechnya and the North Caucasus following his war on Napoleon in the first decade of the nineteenth century. In 1817, he built the Grozny fortress, from “terror” in Russian, in order to “terrorize” Chechens, and cut and burnt down forests because they were hideouts for Chechen fighters. If that was a huge loss by that era’s terms, the environmental situation in Chechnya is catastrophic in modern times, given the qualities and quantities of weaponry used in the present Russian war.
Wednesday, 03 May 2006
RESTORING THE GEORGIA-RUSSIA RAILWAY CONNECTION: GOOD OR BAD IDEA?
By George Katcharava (5/3/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND:Twelve years after the beginning of the war in Abkhazia, the Georgian and Abkhazian leaderships began to discuss the restoration of the railway connection between Georgia and Russia through the territory of Abkhazia. This issue was first seriously raised during a meeting between Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2003. Notwithstanding these high-level discussions, no official document was signed at the summit, though the results of discussions were stated in the presidents’ declarations.
Wednesday, 03 May 2006
RUMBLES IN THE TURKMEN ELITE
By Slavomir Horak (5/3/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND:Purges in authoritarian regimes such as that of Turkmenistan are a standard tool used for their survival. Except for recurrent deprivation of middle and lower rank officials of their positions, several great waves of high-level purges have been observed in Turkmenistan in the almost fifteen years of its independence. The trials started as early as in 1992, when then-prime minister Khan Ahmedov and his circle were forced to leave their chairs.Visit also
