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41. Postwar Afghanistan – The Road From Here

Author:
Jon P. Dorschner
Publication Date:
08-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Department of Social Sciences at West Point, United States Military Academy
Abstract:
This is a short evaluation of the prospects for postwar reconstruction in Afghanistan. It will conclude with a number of policy recommendations regarding the possible role that the United States can play in the establishing of a viable Afghan state. It reflects my experience in the region and as an intelligence analyst and Foreign Service Officer.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, and Central Asia

42. Flashman's Revenge: Central Asia after September 11

Author:
Eugene Rumer
Publication Date:
12-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
The terrorist attacks of September 11 swept away much of the uncertainty about Central Asia's importance to the international system and its relationship with the major powers, especially the United States. Indeed, the five states of the region—ajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan—have become among the most important frontline states in America's war on terrorism. But the war did not alter many basic long-term trends in the region that will complicate U.S. activities as well as color Central Asian perceptions of the United States. Beyond the immediate demands of the war on terrorism, many fundamental questions remain unanswered: How important is Central Asia to the United States? What is the nature of U.S. interest in the region? What role should the United States play in Central Asia: security manager, hegemon, limited partner? Defining the right role for the United States in Central Asia is no easy task. The region is geographically remote, unknown to much of the American public, and not easily accessible. It has few evident connections to the United States. U.S. interests in Central Asia— beyond the most basic ones such as peace, stability, and alleviation of human suffering, as well as those associated with terrorism—are not easy to identify in ways that the American people and their leaders would readily embrace. Moreover, the early record of U.S. engagement in Central Asia immediately after the breakup of the Soviet Union and through the 1990s was not a positive one, resulting in mutual disappointments in Washington and the Central Asian capitals. That record offers important lessons that will be considered below.
Topic:
Security and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States, America, Washington, and Central Asia

43. Special Policy Forum Report: The War on Terrorism in Central and Southwest Asia

Author:
Ahmed Rashid
Publication Date:
09-2002
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
Although al-Qaeda and the Taliban no longer pose a military or political threat in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda cells are regrouping. This threat requires the response of special forces, intelligence, and commandos in order to uncover the terrorist cells and prevent another September 11-style attack. But the main threat posed by terrorism in Central Asia today is the enormous domestic political crisis that has erupted throughout the region.
Topic:
Security, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Taliban

44. The 1971 Smallpox Epidemic in Aralsk, Kazakhstan, and the Soviet Biological Warfare Program

Author:
Jonathan B. Tucker and Raymond A. Zilinskas
Publication Date:
10-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
Abstract:
The heart of this occasional paper is a translation of an official Soviet-era document titled “Report on Measures Taken to Contain and Eradicate the Smallpox Outbreak Locale in the City of Aralsk, September/October 1971.” This previously secret report describes and analyzes an outbreak of smallpox that occurred in autumn 1971 in Aralsk, a small city on the shore of the Aral Sea in what was then the Kazakhstan Soviet Socialist Republic. Ten persons became infected with smallpox, and three died, before the outbreak was successfully contained by means of quarantine, mass vaccination in Aralsk, and other public health measures. A contagious disease that killed about a third of its victims, smallpox was characterized by high fever, prostration, and a painful pustular rash on the face and body that left survivors with disfiguring facial scars.
Topic:
Health, Terrorism, War, Weapons of Mass Destruction, World Health Organization, and Biosecurity
Political Geography:
Central Asia and Kazakhstan

45. Assessing Central Asia's Role in he Antiterror Campaign

Author:
Sheila Heslin
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
In the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, Central Asia has emerged as a key frontline region in the war against Osama bin Laden's terrorism network and his state-sponsor in Afghanistan.
Topic:
Security, NATO, Arms Control and Proliferation, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Central Asia and Asia