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412. 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
413. Special Policy Forum Report: President Bush and the Middle East — One Year On
- Author:
- Michael E. Mandelbaum, Robert Hunter, and William Kristol
- Publication Date:
- 02-2002
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- In the wake of the Cold War, certain regions of the world (e.g., Western Europe, Northeast Asia, the Western hemisphere) are both important to the United States and, for the moment, relatively stable. Several other regions (e.g., sub-Saharan Africa, former Soviet Central Asia) are unstable but not as important. The Middle East is the only region that boasts the unhappy combination of being both important and unstable.
- Topic:
- Security, Cold War, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Central Asia, Middle East, and Arabia
414. 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
415. The Caucasus and Central Asia
- Author:
- Fiona Hill
- Publication Date:
- 05-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- The Caspian Basin and the surrounding states of the Caucasus and Central Asia have crept from obscurity onto the U.S. foreign policy agenda. While the individual countries of the two regions may not be of vital interest to the United States, the countries that border them are. Four have nuclear weapons, one is an important NATO ally, and two are states that have posed direct challenges to U.S. security by their support for terrorist movements.
- Topic:
- Security and Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States and Central Asia
416. Revisiting the 12 Myths of Central Asia
- Author:
- Martha Brill Olcott
- Publication Date:
- 09-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- NEARLY TEN YEARS HAVE PASSED since the countries of Central Asia received their independence. This impending anniversary is a good opportunity to look at how these states are managing the state-building process, and in particular what symbolic or ideological defenses they are offering for their actions. States need little protection from their successes but are always seeking ways to explain away their various failures. This paper looks at the “myths” that the leaders of the five Central Asian states are using to explain away the very disappointing results in both economic and especially political reforms and shows how U.S. policy makers have bought into some of these myths as well.
- Topic:
- Security, Economics, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States, Central Asia, and Asia
417. A Golden Opportunity: The Next Steps in U.S.-Indian Relations
- Author:
- John C. Holzman
- Publication Date:
- 07-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- The Bush administration promotes broader security relations with India as a priority yet maintains wide-ranging sanctions against this giant of the subcontinent to punish it for its 1998 nuclear tests. The administration inherited policies that restrict high technology and military exports to India, mandate that the United States vote against some development loans to India from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, and limit cooperation with the Indian military establishment. The administration is in the process of lifting restrictions on high-level military contacts and is consulting with New Delhi on its plans for missile defense, a concept that India has applauded.
- Topic:
- Security
- Political Geography:
- United States, Central Asia, India, and New Delhi
418. Russia's Southern Neighbors
- Author:
- Aleksandar D. Jovovic
- Publication Date:
- 03-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
- Abstract:
- The Institute for the study of Diplomacy hosted the spring 2001 meetings of the Schlesinger Working Group on the topic of Russian foreign policy towards its neighbors in Central Asia and the Caucasus. The potential for further conflict along Russia's periphery is real. Russia (experiencing an economic upswing and more assertive political leadership) is mired in a series of border problems as well as unresolved internal security challenges in Chechnya and continues to be a central actor in the entire Caucasus region. The civil war in Afghanistan continues to export Islamic extremism to Russia's important Central Asian neighbors. If a dramatic security downturn took shape in any of these borderlands, it would test the competence, political will, and strategic common sense of Putin and his team. Russia's government has already demonstrated its willingness to charge headlong into an internal conflict, and Putin's initial popularity has soared as a result. To provide a starting point for the discussion, the working group examined the following issues: External political and security challenges facing Russia in the near to medium term. Russia's interests and willingness to remain engaged in developments along its frontier. Prospects for strategic surprises and unanticipated events along Russia's southern border. Implications of Russia's behavior and region- al developments on US interests and capabilities.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Russia, Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and Chechnya
419. Strategic Assessment of Central Eurasia
- Author:
- C. Richard Nelson, Charles Fairbanks, S. Frederick Starr, and Kenneth Weisbrode
- Publication Date:
- 01-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- This assessment outlines a basis for U.S. national security planning related to Central Eurasia over the next ten years. The region covered encompasses the five former Soviet states of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) and the three former Soviet states of the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia). Although the two halves of the region are very different and attract the attention of the major powers in distinct ways, planners should avoid rigidly compartmentalizing them given the economic and, to a certain extent, cultural, linkages that exist. It is most important to appreciate the role these linkages play in the geopolitical mindset of the other major powers, namely Iran and Russia, and to a lesser extent, China, India, Pakistan and Turkey. In fact, these linkages are expanding as trends and developments in the region become increasingly transnational, and as the regions overall profile in global affairs becomes more prominent.
- Topic:
- Economics
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, United States, China, Central Asia, Turkey, India, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan
420. 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