http://www.traceca.org/tracecafr.htm
On a project unrelated to our Serbian debates I was studying world exports of cotton. Believe it or not, Uzbekistan is the world's no. 2 cotton exporter. I discovered that Uzb. is participating in a project that will redirect its stream of cotton exports from Russia to Poti (Georgia, on the Black Sea). I hit upon the above link, which discusses the seemingly innocuous "restoration of the Silk route" project that has been underway since 1993.
Basically what's going on is this: it's not just oil, it's not just cotton, the idea is to move the whole of central asia away from Russian-directed exports towards Europe. While the Danube is not the exclusive concern, it's clear that the existence of a pro-Russian ally in the midst of this greater NATO/EC universe would be an obstacle to the general plan. Explore the web site yourself.
-- Gregory P. Nowell Associate Professor Department of Political Science, Milne 100 State University of New York 135 Western Ave. Albany, New York 12222
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