February 2000

• Uzbekistan's Trade Liberalization: Key to Central Asian Economic Integration
  President Islam Karimov's reelection in Uzbekistan has been followed by his statement that a program of economic liberalization and privatization will now be introduced in the country. Currency controls on the Uzbek som and its less than full convertibility, have been the greatest roadblocks to the overall development of the Central Asian trading bloc, called the Central Asian Union, that includes Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikstan. If this permits barriers to trade including bilateral trade tariffs to be overcome, then the Central Asian Union holds the greatest potential to reanimate regional trade throughout the Central Asian region.

January 2000

• Ajaria, the Russian Military in Georgia, and Stability in the South Caucasus
  Recent initiatives aimed at fostering a multilateral security system in the South Caucasus potentially represent an historic shift in how Russia relates to the region. These initiatives would lead Russia to view the South Caucasus as an area for common co-operation rather than to treat it as a private preserve. The effectively autonomous province of Ajaria in southwest Georgia, and the Russian military base at its capital Batumi, are auspicious for the political integrity of the Georgian state and for South Caucasus regional stability.