Regional Security is one of the major areas of research of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and & Silk Road Studies Program Joint Center.

After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, the states of the South Caucasus and Central Asia became independent and began to search for their own identity, economic model and security arrangements. Meanwhile, states surrounding this region, from Turkey to China, adapted to a new and rapidly developing reality. Chief among the concerns of the states in as well as surrounding the former Southern Tier of the USSR was the issue of security.

Indeed, from border conflicts and civil wars to religious extremism, drug trafficking and great power confrontation, the leading concern among leaders has been security. Likewise, for the population of these areas, the issue of personal and societal security became acutely relevant as economic systems collapsed and civil wars emerged.

Continuous research as well as specific initiatives at the Center have focused on the issue of regional security. In Summer 2005, researchers at the center conducted a conflict and security assessment of both the South Caucasus and Central Asia for the Swedish Development Cooperation Agency. In Spring 2004, the Center conducted a detailed study of NATO's role in the regional security of the South Caucasus. In Fall 2002, The Center edited an issue of the Nordic Asia Society Newsletter on Central Asia.

Publications

Svante E. Cornell, "Eurasia: Crisis and Opportunity", Journal of International Security Affairs, no. 11, Fall 2006, pp. 29-38.

Svante E. Cornell and Niklas L.P. Swanström, "The Eurasian Drug Trade: A Challenge to Regional Security", Problems of Post-Communism, Volume 53, Number 4 / July-August 2006, pp 10-28.

Erica Marat, The Sate-Crime Nexus in Central Asia: State Weakness, Organized Crime and Corruption in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, October 2006.

Svante E. Cornell & S. Frederick Starr, The Caucasus: A Challenge for Europe, Uppsala & Washington: CACI & SRSP Silk Road Paper, June 2006, 80pp.

S. Frederick Starr, Clans, Authoritarian Rulers and Parliaments in Central Asia, Uppsala & Washington: CACI & SRSP Silk Road Paper, June 2006, 30pp.

Quansheng Zhao, China’s New Approach to Conflict Management: The Cases of North Korea and Taiwan, Washington & Uppsala: CACI&SRSP Joint Center, May 2006.

Erica Marat, "Bishkek Welcomes Expanded Russian Military Presence in Kyrgyzstan", Eurasia Daily Monitor, 25 April 2006.

Christopher Len, "The Growing Importance of Japan's Engagement in Central Asia", The Power and Interest News Report, 17 February, 2006.

Niklas L.P. Swanström, "Narcotics and China: An Old Security Threat From New Sources", CEF Quarterly vol. 4 no. 1, February 2006.

Svante E. Cornell, "The Narcotics Threat in Greater Central Asia: From Crime-Terror Nexus to State Infiltration", CEF Quarterly, vol. 4. no. 1, February 2006.

Erica Marat,The Tulip Revolution: Kyrgyzstan One Year After, Washington, DC: Jamestown Foundation, 2006, 150pp.[Click to download PDF]

Erica Marat, "Impact of Drug Trade and Organized Crime on State Functioning in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan", CEF Quarterly, vol. 4. no. 1, February 2006.

Svante E. Cornell, "The War in Chechnya: A Regional Time Bomb", Global Dialogue, vol. 7 no. 3/4, 2005.Cornell, Svante, "The North Caucasus: Spiraling Out of Control?", Jamestown Terrorism Monitor , vol. 3 no. 7, 7 April 2005.

Starr, S. Frederick, "Silk Road to Success", The National Interest, Winter 2004/2005.

Cornell, Svante E. Narcotics, Radicalism and Security in Central Asia: The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan , East European Studies Working Paper no. 84, December 2004.

Starr, S. Frederick, "Hamid Karzai's Key Role in Central Asia", Far East Economic Review, December 2004.

Starr, S. Frederick, 'Central Asia in the Global Economy', Foreign Policy, September/October 2004.

Swanström, Niklas, "The Prospects of Multialteral Conflict Prevention in Central Asia", Central Asian Survey, 2004, vol 23, No 1.

Cornell, Svante, Guest Editor of the Nordic Asia Society Newsletter Asia Insight, Fall 2002, special issue on Central Asia. Author of "Introduction", and "Radical Islam in Central Asia: A Hype or a Threat?", in the issue.

Cornell, Svante, "The Asian Connection: The New Geopolitics of Central Eurasia" in Marco Polo Magazine, no. 5-6, Winter 2000-2001. (with Maria Sultan).

Cornell, Svante, "Central Asia: More than Islamic Extremists", The Washington Quarterly, vol. 25 no. 1, Winter 2001. (With Regine Spector).

S. Frederick Starr, "Russia's Ominous Afghan Gambit", Wall Street Journal Europe, 11 December 2001. 

S. Frederick Starr, "America's Three Afghan Challenges", Christian Science Monitor , 23 November 2001.

Svante E. Cornell, "Thank the Northern Alliance but Also Rein It In", Los Angeles Times, 14 November 2001.

S. Frederick Starr, "Ethnic Groups Must Share in the Pie", Los Angeles Times , 4 November 2001.

Svante E. Cornell, "Finessing Two Rivals Is Essential-The Trick Is Balancing India And Pakistan", Los Angelest Times , 22 October 2001.

S. Frederick Starr, "Afghan Northern Alliance Makes A Dangerous Friend", The Baltimore Sun , 17 October 2001.

Svante E. Cornell and Niklas Swanström, "China Unnerved With War, West So Close To Its Door", The Baltimore Sun, 23 October 2001.

Svante E. Cornell, Small Nations and Great Powers: A Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict in the Caucasus , Richmond: Curzon Press, 2000.