Tuesday, 29 October 2019 18:39

Azerbaijan: Reform Behind A Static Facade

Ilham

 THE AMERICAN INTEREST

By Svante E. Cornell

October 17, 2019

Oil-rich Azerbaijan is undergoing a major process of top-down modernization. Here’s why the reforms are happening now—and why Washington should take an interest.

A wave of political dynamism is passing through Central Asia and the Caucasus. Under new leadership since 2016, Uzbekistan has embarked on a major effort to reform and modernize. Armenia's former President's attempt to cling to power launched a Velvet Revolution in 2018 and ushered in a new administration explicitly committed to tackling the country's oligarchic system. Kazakhstan, whose first President engineered a managed succession to a long-term confidant, continues on its path to reform the economy, while pledging a more inclusive political atmosphere. 


 Read Full Article at The American Interest

 

Tagged under
Tuesday, 17 September 2019 00:00

First Glimpses of Tokayev's Kazakhstan: The Listening State?

  • President Tokayev seeks to "maintain continuity" yet nonetheless calls for "systemic reforms." He appears to mean both.
  • In the effort to engage society more deeply in governance, Kazakhstan will institute and seek to manage reforms from above.
  • In continuing the principle of balance in its foreign policy, which Tokayev invented two decades ago, Kazakhstan will seek increased engagement and investment from the West.

By S. Frederick Starr

September 17, 2019

Tagged under
Friday, 26 July 2019 00:00

China's Brutality Can't Destroy Uighur Culture

The Turkic people has an ancient language and traditions. Even Mao didn't expect to erase it.

By S. Frederick Starr

July 26, 2019

Daily headlines tell the story of China’s mass internment of Uighurs in its Xinjiang province, along with the closing and destruction of Uighur mosques and the demolition of their neighborhoods. But the press largely ignores other aspects of their identity, notably their significant cultural and intellectual achievements. These details matter, because Uighurs’ resilient culture may ultimately frustrate China’s efforts to stamp them out.

Tagged under
Tuesday, 02 July 2019 10:56

Turkey's Hour of Nationalism: The Deeper Sources of Political Realignment

1906TAI

Lost in the electoral struggle for Istanbul, the deeper lesson of Turkey’s local election is the rise of Turkish nationalism. It has weakened President Erdoğan, and it offers the United States new options in developing a coherent Turkey policy.

The March 31 local election in Turkey was a bombshell: Contrary to expectations, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost not only the capital Ankara, but the country’s biggest metropolis, Istanbul, where Erdoğan himself rose to prominence as Mayor in the 1990s. The Supreme Electoral Council’s May 6 decision to cancel the Istanbul election and order a June 23 rerun was equally significant. To many, it amounted to the final nail in the coffin of Turkish democracy. EU Turkey rapporteur Kati Piri said it“ends the credibility of democratic transition of power through elections.”

Read more at The American Interest

Tagged under
Monday, 10 June 2019 00:00

US Perspectives on China's Belt and Road Initiative in Central Asia and the South Caucasus

US Perspectives on China's Belt and Road Initiative in Central Asia adn the South Caucasus

By S. Frederick Starr

Abstract

To date, the US response to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Central Asia and the Caucasus has been calm, if not tacitly supportive. Two main reasons for this are: (a) the reopening of age-old east–west trade corridors as one of the most important legacies of the collapse of the USSR and (b) it views the engage- ment of both China and Europe in east–west trade across Central Asia as fur- thering the Central Asians’ own ability to achieve balanced and positive relations between all the major powers, thereby constraining hegemonic aspirations from any quarter. Further, the United States supports the emergence of Central Asia as a defined world region akin to ASEAN or the Nordic Council and believes that reforms under way in Uzbekistan and elsewhere in the region serve that end as well as increase east–west and west–east trade across the region. Finally, the United States realizes that the ultimate judgement on the viability of BRI in Central Asia and the Caucasus will be that of the market and not geopolitics.

Continue Reading

 

isdp

AFPC-Full-Logo