Eurasia News Week in Review - March 14, 2014 Share This /

The Defense Department handed over equipment to Tajikistan’s drug enforcement agency this week, while members of Congress continue to push the Obama Administration to hasten Georgia’s NATO integration process. Below is a roundup of these stories and some of the other top articles and news highlights from around Central Eurasia over the last week:

Top news from Central Asia and the South Caucasus:

• During his confirmation hearing, General Paul Selva, the nominee to become the next commander of the United States Transportation Command, stated that twenty percent of non-lethal cargo entering and leaving Afghanistan still travels through Russia’s portions of the Northern Distribution Network (NDN). This figure is a lot higher than previous reports, though those reports solely referred to retrograde equipment rather than equipment entering Afghanistan. General Selva also stated that the Defense Department (DOD) could increase transport through other portions of the NDN if Russia blocks travel through its territory, probably utilizing routes across the South Caucasus and the Caspian Sea. Lastly, General Selva acknowledged in his written responses that the human rights and corruption records of the Central Asian states “should be considered for participation on the NDN,” though he deferred the responsibility for determining these issues to the State Department. 
• U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) handed over “office equipment, operative equipment and equipment for analysis of narcotic drugs” to Tajikistan’s Drug Control Agency (DCA) on Wednesday. CENTCOM also offers training, technical assistance and infrastructure to Tajikistan’s counternarcotics agency as part of its drug prevention program. Data recently released on the Security Assistance Monitor show that Tajikistan received a major boost in DOD counternarcotics assistance in 2012, a fact analyst Joshua Kucera explores more closely on our blog. Tajikistan’s Drug Control Agency also receives support from the State Department, which established a special, vetted unit within the agency last year and supplements the DCA’s salaries.
• A number of analysts have asked recently whether Georgia’s NATO integration prospects increased in light of the situation in Ukraine. Certain U.S. members of Congress – such as Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Representative Steve King (R-IA) – have said that the U.S. should accelerate Georgia’s entry process into NATO in response to Russian aggression in Crimea. Furthermore, the Russian daily newspaper Kommersant reported on Tuesday that NATO will offer Georgia a Membership Action Plan if Russia annexes Crimea. Nonetheless, the alliance’s special representative to the South Caucasus and Central Asia, James Appathurai, refuted some of this speculation when he said “there cannot be any shortcuts” to Georgian integration.
• President Obama spoke with Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev regarding the situation in Ukraine on Monday, with both leaders agreeing, “it is important to respect the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The same day, however, Nazarbayev endorsed Russia’s actions in protecting “the rights of national minorities in Ukraine” in a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. also praised Kyrgyzstan’s recognition of the new Ukrainian government, as Kyrgyzstan became one of the only states in Central Eurasia to dispute Russia’s interpretation of the events in Ukraine.

Quick hits from Central Asia and the South Caucasus:

• Tajikistan’s foreign minister, Sirojiddin Aslov, traveled to the U.S. this week to meet with United Nations and U.S. officials. During a meeting with Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, the two discussed “bilateral cooperation . . . in the security and military-political fields, assistance for strengthening of Tajikistan’s southern border management and improvement of capacities of Tajik law enforcement agencies.”
• Kazakhstan’s Defense Ministry announced on Saturday that it will send 20 officers to observe UN peacekeeping missions, a step that may lead to Kazakhstan’s participation in a peacekeeping mission. As we previously noted, the U.S. has worked closely with Kazakhstan to train its peacekeeping unit, though the deployment of this unit has been continuously delayed.   
• Eurasianet Central Asia Editor David Trilling wrote an excellent profile of the reasons and outcomes of January’s clashes between Tajik and Kyrgyz border troops. 
• A delegation from Azerbaijan’s National War College started a ten-day visit to the U.S. Naval War College last week. The visit is part of an initiative designed for Partnership for Peace participants and “offers international military academy faculty members the opportunity to shadow Western counterparts.”
• A NATO delegation visited Armenia to discuss a new agreement package with the country within the framework of the Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan. The sides specifically focused on Armenia’s defense reforms and joint participation in peacekeeping operations.