CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS No. 4-5(58-59), 2009 CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS Journal of Social and Political Studies Published since 2000 4-5(58-59) 2009 CA&CC Press® SWEDEN 1 No. 4-5(58-59),FOUNDED 2009 AND PUBLISHEDCENTRAL ASIA AND BYTHE CAUCASUS INSTITUTE INSTITUTE O OR CENTRAL ASIAN AND STRATEGIC STUDIES O CAUCASIAN STUDIES THE CAUCASUS Registration number: 620720-0459 Registration number: M-770 State Administration for Ministry of Justice of Patents and Registration of Sweden Azerbaijan Republic PUBLISHING HOUSE CA&CC Press®. SWEDEN Registration number: 556699-5964 Journal registration number: 23 614 State Administration for Patents and Registration of Sweden E d i t o r i a l C o u n c i l Eldar Chairman of the Editorial Council ISMAILOV Tel./fax: (994 - 12) 497 12 22 E-mail: [email protected] Murad ESENOV Editor-in-Chief Tel./fax: (46) 920 62016 E-mail: [email protected] Jannatkhan Executive Secretary (Baku, Azerbaijan) EYVAZOV Tel./fax: (994 - 12) 499 11 73 E-mail: [email protected] Timur represents the journal in Kazakhstan (Astana) SHAYMERGENOV Tel./fax: (+7 - 701) 531 61 46 E-mail: [email protected] Leonid represents the journal in Kyrgyzstan (Bishkek) BONDARETS Tel.: (+996 - 312) 65-48-33 E-mail: [email protected] Jamila MAJIDOVA represents the journal in Tajikistan (Dushanbe) Tel.: (992 - 917) 72 81 79 E-mail: [email protected] Farkhad represents the journal in Uzbekistan (Tashkent) TOLIPOV Tel.: (9987-1) 125 43 22 E-mail: [email protected] Ziya KENGERLI represents the journal in Azerbaijan (Baku) Tel.: (+994 50) 3006694 E-mail: [email protected] Haroutiun represents the journal in Armenia (Erevan) KHACHATRIAN Tel.: (374-1) 56 65 59 E-mail: [email protected] Guram represents the journal in Georgia (Tbilisi) GOGIASHVILI Tel.: (995 - 32) 96 85 87 E-mail: [email protected] Sun ZHUANGZHI represents the journal in China (Beijing) Tel.: (86) 10-64039088 E-mail: [email protected] Konrad SCHÄFFLER represents the journal in Germany (Munich) Tel.: (49 - 89) 3003132 E-mail: [email protected] Vladimir MESAMED represents the journal in the Middle East (Jerusalem) Tel.: (972 - 2) 5882332 E-mail: [email protected] Irina EGOROVA represents the journal in the Russian Federation (Moscow) Tel.: (7 - 495) 3163146 E-mail: [email protected] Rustem ZHANGUZHIN represents the journal in Ukraine (Kiev) Tel.: (380-44) 524-79-132 E-mail: [email protected] CENTRAL ASIA AND THEE DCAUCASUS I T O R I A L B O A R D No. 4-5(58-59), 2009 Giuli ALASANIA Doctor of History, professor, Vice Rector of the International Black Sea University (Georgia) Bülent ARAS Doctor, Chair, Department of International Relations, Fatih University (Turkey) Mariam ARUNOVA Doctor of Political Science, leading research associate, Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS (Russian Federation) Garnik ASATRIAN Doctor of Philology, professor, head of the Department of Iranian Studies, Erevan State University (Armenia) Bakyt BESHIMOV Doctor of History, professor, Vice President, American University-Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan) Ariel COHEN Doctor, leading analyst, The Heritage Foundation, U.S.A. (U.S.A.) William FIERMAN Doctor of Political Science, Professor of Indiana University (U.S.A.) Paul GOBLE Senior Advisor, Voice of America (U.S.A.) Sergei GRETSKY Doctor, Chair of Central Asian Studies, Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State (U.S.A.) Xing GUANGCHENG Doctor of Political Science, professor, Deputy Director of the Institute for East European, Russian and Central Asian Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (China) Alexander IGNATENKO President, Institute of Religion and Politics, Doctor of Philosophy, specialist in Islamic studies, leading expert of the Institute of Social Systems, Moscow State University, member of the Council for Cooperation with Religious Associations under the Russian Federation President (Russian Federation) Ashurboi IMOMOV Ph.D. (Law), assistant professor, head of the Department of Constitutional Law, Tajik National University (Tajikistan) Lena JONSON Doctor, senior researcher, Swedish Institute of International Affairs (Sweden) Klara KHAFIZOVA Doctor of History, Director, Center for Strategic and International Studies, professor at the International Relations and Foreign Policy Department, Kainar University (Kazakhstan) Jacob M. LANDAU Professor of Political Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel) S. Neil MACFARLANE Professor, Director, Center for International Studies, The University of Oxford (Great Britain) Alexei MALASHENKO Doctor of History, professor, Scholar-in-Residence, Ethnicity and Nation-Building Program Co-Chair, The Carnegie Moscow Center (Russian Federation) Abbas MALEKI Dr., Director General, International Institute for Caspian Studies (Iran) Akira Ph.D., History of Central Asia and the Caucasus, Program Officer, The Sasakawa Peace MATSUNAGA Foundation (Japan) Roger N. McDERMOTT Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Kent at Canterbury (UK) Vitaly NAUMKIN Doctor of History, professor, Director, Center for Strategic and International Studies of RF (Russian Federation) Yerengaip OMAROV Professor, Rector of Kainar University, President of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Republic of Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan) Vladimer PAPAVA Doctor of Economics, professor, Corresponding member of the Georgian Academy of Sciences, Senior Fellow of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (Georgia) S. Frederick STARR Professor, Chairman, The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, The Johns Hopkins University (U.S.A.) The materials that appear in the journal do not necessarily reflect the Editorial Board and the Editors’ opinion Editorial Office: CA&CC Press AB Hubertusstigen 9. 97455 Luleå SWEDEN WEB ADDRESS: http://www.ca-c.org © Central Asia and the Caucasus, 2009 © CA&CC Press®, 3 2009 No. 4-5(58-59), 2009 CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS Journal of Social and Political Studies No. 4-5(58-59), 2009 IN THIS ISSUE: ENERGY POLICY AND ENERGY PROJECTS Thrassyvoulos IRAN’S GEOPOLITICS IN THE MIDST OF Marketos. THE U.S.-RUSSIA-CHINA ENERGY SECURITY STRUGGLE FOR GEOSTRATEGIC CONTROL OVER EURASIA ….....……………… 7 REGIONAL ECONOMIES Eldar Ismailov. MONETARY AND BANKING SYSTEMS OF THE CENTRAL EURASIAN COUNTRIES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE WORLD FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC CRISIS ……......................................…………… 21 Lola Sultanova, THE WORLD CRISIS AND Albina Gaysina. THE RAW-MATERIAL ORIENTED TRANSITION ECONOMIES ……..............................…………… 48 Aza Migranian. THE WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS AND ITS IMPACT ON THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES ……..................…………… 59 Shamseddin AZERBAIJAN FINANCIAL AND Hajiyev, BANKING SYSTEM DURING Fakhri THE GLOBAL CRISIS: Murshudli. SHIFT OF EMPHASIS IN INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENTS ………….....................……… 75 4 CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS No. 4-5(58-59), 2009 Abdurakhim Vakhabov, UZBEKISTAN’S BANKING SYSTEM AND Tulkin ITS ROLE IN IMPLEMENTING Bobakulov. THE ANTI-CRISIS PROGRAM …….........................…………… 91 CIS, EURASEC, GUAM, AND BSECO REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: THEIR ROLE IN THE INTEGRATION PROCESSES IN CENTRAL EURASIA Boris Zazhigaev. ONE OF THE LIMITROPHE TERRITORIES OF THE GLOBAL WORLD (TRANSFORMATION OF THE STATES OF THE BALTIC-BLACK SEA REGION IN THE 21ST CENTURY). Part I ………....................………… 106 Farkhad Tolipov. CENTRAL ASIA: REGIONAL RESPONSE TO A GLOBAL CHALLENGE ……...........................…………… 117 Grant Mikaelian. THE BSEC: ITS REGIONAL INTEGRATION PROSPECTS FOR ARMENIA ….........................……………… 126 Yuri Morozov. COOPERATION AMONG THE SCO COUNTRIES IN THE HUMANITARIAN SPHERE: EXISTING PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS ………..................................………… 139 Vladimir Ivanov. GUAM: OLD PROBLEMS AND NEW CHALLENGES …………...................................……… 152 Marat Naribaev. COOPERATION BETWEEN KAZAKHSTAN AND THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATION AS A FACTOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF FOREIGN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY TODAY ……....................…………… 159 REGIONAL POLITICS Beka Chedia. THE GEORGIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN CURRENT GEORGIAN POLICY …………..................……… 169 5 No. 4-5(58-59), 2009 CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS Lydia Karmazina. OPPOSITION IN KAZAKHSTAN: NAGGING PROBLEMS ………….....................................……… 175 Egamberdy ON THE RESULTS OF Kabulov. THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN KYRGYZSTAN ………..........................................………… 184 REGIONAL SECURITY Anna THE GEORGIAN-RUSSIAN CONFLICT, Shelest. ENEGY PROJECTS, AND SECURITY OF THE BLACK SEA-CASPIAN REGION ………............………… 192 Mikhail MEDVEDEV-SARKOZY’S SIX POINTS: Volkhonskiy. THE DIPLOMATIC ASPECT OF THE SOUTH OSSETIAN SETTLEMENT ………….............……… 200 FOR YOUR INFORMATION The Special Feature section in the next issue will discuss: n Energy Policy and Energy Projects in Central Eurasia n Regional Centers of Power and their Policy in Central Eurasia n Central Eurasia: Politics Today 6 CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS No. 4-5(58-59), 2009 ENERGY POLICY AND ENERGY PROJECTS IRAN’S GEOPOLITICS IN THE MIDST OF THE U.S.-RUSSIA-CHINA ENERGY SECURITY STRUGGLE FOR GEOSTRATEGIC CONTROL OVER EURASIA Thrassyvoulos (Thrassy) N. MARKETOS Ph.D. (International Relations), internationalist lawyer; specialized in public international law at the University of Aix-Marseille III (France); was nominated doctor of International Relations by the Panteion University of Athens (Greece). Works for the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, serves