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| 1 |
ID:
135098
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article analyzes the institutional specifics of CIS interparliamentary institutions in the context of regime transformation. It examines the collective benefits from Kyrgyzstan’s cooperation with the Interparliamentary Assembly of CIS Member States (IA CIS). According to the author, the IA CIS directs its efforts toward upholding the standards of adaptive parliamentarianism in its member states. It initially aimed to coordinate a unified election assessment among its member states, whereby it has managed to create the impression that it is a structure subordinated to the legitimization of authoritative regimes.
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| 2 |
ID:
135080
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article examines the activities of the Islamic Development Bank in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and the four other Muslim majority states of southern Eurasia, where the institution has been active, in a rather discreet but targeted way, in the fields of transport, energy and water infrastructure, finance and industrial development since about one and a half decades. Besides offering an analytical overview of the regional activities of this rather little known development institution, it discusses how it is de facto a channel and way-opener for investment form the Arab and more particularly the Arab Gulf sphere, and how its presence fits into a trend among southern Eurasian governments and economic elites to diversify sources of aid and investment.
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ID:
135081
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article examines the activities of the Islamic Development Bank in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and the four other Muslim majority states of southern Eurasia, where the institution has been active, in a rather discreet but targeted way, in the fields of transport, energy and water infrastructure, finance and industrial development since about one and a half decades. Besides offering an analytical overview of the regional activities of this rather little known development institution, it discusses how it is de facto a channel and way-opener for investment form the Arab and more particularly the Arab Gulf sphere, and how its presence fits into a trend among southern Eurasian governments and economic elites to diversify sources of aid and investment.
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ID:
135091
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| Summary/Abstract |
The author uses the latest theoretical and conceptual approaches to world politics and international security to analyze the Afghan problem. He suggests that certain commonly accepted ideas about the strategic situation in Afghanistan should be reviewed to arrive at more exact interpretations of the “traditional” and “non-traditional” threats and other concepts. He also formulates a concept of systemic securitization for Afghanistan’s future.
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| 5 |
ID:
135078
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| Summary/Abstract |
The existing political, socioeconomic, and spiritual-cultural contradictions and conflicts in the Southern Caucasus can only be overcome by means of efficient European integration and Eurasian reintegration of the countries that belong to this region. The South Caucasian countries have been carrying out reforms in all spheres of social life within the framework of European integration. These reforms were aimed at ensuring sustainable development and civiliarchic harmonization based on the European social model and, therefore, promoted internal and international integration. This has created prerequisites for establishing democratic institutions and rapidly forming a civil society; it has also raised government and local self-administration effectiveness, as weThe existing political, socioeconomic, and spiritual-cultural contradictions and conflicts in the Southern Caucasus can only be overcome by means of efficient European integration and Eurasian reintegration of the countries that belong to this region. The South Caucasian countries have been carrying out reforms in all spheres of social life within the framework of European integration. These reforms were aimed at ensuring sustainable development and civiliarchic harmonization based on the European social model and, therefore, promoted internal and international integration. This has created prerequisites for establishing democratic institutions and rapidly forming a civil society; it has also raised government and local self-administration effectiveness, as well as the level of public capital, legal culture, and social security of the population.
The obligations the South Caucasian countries have taken upon themselves within the framework of international (including European) organizations has helped to overcome political instability, ethnic conflicts, social differentiation, and other destructive processes. The emergence of new dividing lines indicating the huge differences between the highly incompatible European and Eurasian integration projects threatens to destabilize the Southern Caucasus.
It is also important to keep in mind that the Eurasian reintegration project, which embodies a modern development concept, is still coming to fruition. It has yet to undergo the social verification and instrumentalization so necessary in the current reality of the “knowledge society.”
ll as the level of public capital, legal culture, and social security of the population.
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| 6 |
ID:
135079
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| Summary/Abstract |
Eurasian integration and the Eurasian Economic Union have attracted numerous views and opinions and ignited heated discussions: a larger part of the political and business community of the CIS countries is aware of the advantages a common economic space that has their best interests at heart will have to offer. On the other hand, the possible loss of national sovereignties and independence has stirred up apprehension that keeps politicians in two minds and slows down economic cooperation.
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| 7 |
ID:
135093
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The author analyzes the role and place of Iran in Russia’s Central Asian policy and the impacts of the main foreign policy factors of the Middle East and the CIS.
This brings to the forefront Moscow’s approach to its relations with Iran, the United States, and the European Union, as well as their development trends, discussed in the context of the Ukrainian crisis and the possible completion of talks on the Iranian nuclear file. The author concentrates on America’s Middle East policy, the talks on Iran’s nuclear policy, and the joint efforts of Moscow and Brussels to bring the Ukrainian crisis to an acceptable settlement.
The above suggests the conclusion that Russia’s Iranian strategy is primarily based on interaction with the U.S. and the EU as part of their common struggle against Islamic extremism. They are working toward settlement of the Iranian nuclear problem and Ukrainian stabilization.
Today, the mounting threat of Islamic extremism (emanating from Iraq), the geographic proximity of Europe and Russia, and the shared economic interests of the United States, the EU, and Russia caused by the global nature of common security mean that we can expect their gradual drawing closer together, the scope and the nature of which will depend on the level of future compromises on the Ukrainian crisis and Iran.
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| 8 |
ID:
135082
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This article presents an analysis of the changes in Kyrgyzstan’s international ratings between 2005 and 2013. It also takes a look at the ratings pegged in Kyrgyzstan’s National Sustainable Development Strategy for 2013-2017, in which the country should occupy a specific rank by 2017.
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| 9 |
ID:
135085
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This article reviews the key priorities of President Obama’s “reset” policy with Russia. The author analyzes the impact of the “reset” on the Southern Caucasus. He emphasizes the region’s strategic importance for U.S. policy toward both the Greater Middle East and the post-Soviet space. The author discusses the failure of the “Russia reset” to improve America’s interests, particularly in the Southern Caucasus. He also evaluates the Putin doctrine priorities and the implications of the Crimean crisis. The author calls for new U.S. initiatives to enforce peace, international borders, and America’s strategic interests in the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia.
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| 10 |
ID:
135097
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| Summary/Abstract |
The author analyzes the specifics of political leadership in Georgia and what people think about them, as well as the new trends that came to the fore after the 2013 presidential election, the leadership’s resources, and the ways the political community “recruits” new members.
The author compares the prominent features of the presidencies between 1991 and 2014 to explain the subtleties of political leadership in Georgia.
He also tries to examine why the Constitution is regularly amended to redistribute legal powers between the president and prime minister.
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| 11 |
ID:
135094
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| Summary/Abstract |
During their more than twenty-year history, the countries of the Caspian Region and Central Asia have achieved remarkable success in crude hydrocarbon production. The appearance of additional volumes of oil and gas in the Caspian and Central Asian countries has made it important to find ways to deliver them to the foreign markets, turning energy and transportation-communication factors into one of the top priorities in regional development.
The history of current pipeline projects in the Caspian Region and Central Asia is compelling the regional states to exert efforts to reduce Russia’s transportation-communication domination. The Caspian and Central Asian countries that pin their hopes on oil and gas as a way to confirm their independence and expand their cooperation with Western states are focusing priority attention on overcoming their dependence on Russia and diversifying pipeline routes. This has caused a shift in accents toward hydrocarbon resources in foreign policy, including in pipeline transportation.
In addition to the plans for building gas and oil pipelines, geographical considerations are making significant corrections to the implementation of pipeline projects. In the 1990s, large-scale pipeline projects could only be carried out in the Caspian Region with the active participation of the Black Sea countries, which acted as an energy bridge for delivering hydrocarbon resources from the Caspian fields. The pipeline projects eventually gave rise to the Black Sea-Caspian link, which became a backbone for the new international relations forming and served as a foundation for joining the two regions into a unified geopolitical area. As new projects for delivering hydrocarbon resources from the Central Asian countries through the Caspian Sea appeared, the term “Caspian-Central Asian region” came into scientific circulation, reflecting the growing interconnection and interaction of the two regions in implementing pipeline projects.
In recent years, pipeline projects in the Caspian and Central Asia countries have been acquiring increasing importance. As new data about oil and gas reserves appear and industrial production begins, interest in export pipelines is increasing, attracting the attention not only of the Caspian and Central Asian countries, but also of foreign states and leading oil and gas companies. This situation means that the competition among export routes will remain intense.
This article examines the results of implementing pipeline projects in the Caspian Region and Central Asia and analyzes the factors hindering the building of export routes. It focuses particular attention on the geopolitical struggle that is largely generated by pipeline competition.
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| 12 |
ID:
135077
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| Summary/Abstract |
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) first came into being as a result of border negotiations between Russia and China, but evolved shortly thereafter into more than this. It is a regional organization comprised of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan with its mandate now encompassing trade and security. Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia, and Pakistan have been granted observer status, which increased the world’s attention to the SCO.
However, none of the observer states were upgraded to full membership, despite their willingness to do so. Such circumstances may cause misunderstanding between existing observer states and other nominated countries planning to apply to the SCO. In addition to that, the failure of a rational decision on expansion of the Organization raises doubts about the concordance and harmony within the SCO.
Although it has six full member states, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization identifies itself as an organization in which decision-making is dominated by China and Russia. These two main actors, with their giant markets, make the Shanghai Region attractive, as well as politically independent of the West.
Iran is one of the five observer states that applied for full membership during President Ahmadinejad’s administration in early 2005. However, even though almost a decade has passed since this intention was expressed, Iran continues to cooperate with the SCO. Newly elected President Hassan Rouhani’s pragmatic approach has almost resolved the country’s conflict with the West after the six plus one meeting achievements in November 2013, when Iran agreed to decrease uranium enrichment in return for lighter sanctions by the EU and other states. The Iranian president paid his first international visit to Bishkek in September 2013, where he participated in the annual Shanghai Meeting. Iran still considers this region to be important, and it is no doubt a country that could strengthen the role of the Organization.
Meanwhile, Iran remains an observer state and this research paper will focus on the expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, more precisely on Iran’s intention to join, and the implications of this for Russia’s academic and political circles. What do Russians expect of Iran, and what do they think are the pros and cons of Iran’s accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization?
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| 13 |
ID:
135076
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| Summary/Abstract |
Eurasia is attracting more attention around the world than ever before. The leading powers are offering a variety of different Eurasian integration projects, among which special mention should be made of Russia’s Eurasian Economic Union and China’s Silk Road Economic Belt. Although they cover a large geographical area and are similar in many ways, these projects do not compete with each other since China and Russia have come to an agreement. Both countries are showing a certain willingness to cooperate, which has positive prospects.
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| 14 |
ID:
135092
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| Summary/Abstract |
Today, the Southern Caucasus is best described as a scene of geopolitical battles among Russia, Turkey, and Iran, as well as between the United States and the European Union. Each of the actors is pursuing its own political interests and nurturing its own ideas about the routes leading to the region’s stability and its incorporation into the world community. To achieve this and to arrive at pragmatic political decisions fully tuned to the geopolitical realities, political scientists and other experts in international relations must study and identify the geopolitical trends prevailing in the Southern Caucasus in the context of Turkish geostrategy in the region.
The author analyzes the transformations in Turkey’s foreign policy based on the Zero Problems with Our Neighbors policy formulated by the republic’s former Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, which make Turkey’s more active involvement in all spheres of its foreign political activities, building the Ankara-Tbilisi-Baku geopolitical axis as part of the Zero Problems with Our Neighbors policy, and establishing relations with Armenia a far from simple process. The first steps along this road have been taken: Turkey has formulated a Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform; Armenia and Turkey have signed a roadmap and the Zurich Protocols (the ratification of which was suspended by the National Assembly of Armenia), while Ankara has been seeking brokerage in the Karabakh conflict.
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