China Brief Spotlight on Analysis: COVID-19
Hot Issue – They’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat: The Curious Voyage of the Akademik Cherskiy
Problems in the Ukrainian Military Food-Supply System: Coronavirus or Symptom of Slowdown in Reforms?
Indispensable Oligarchs: Ukraine Turns to Business Leaders to Support Anti-Coronavirus Efforts
Ukraine’s top businessmen are answering President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call to assist and even lead the country’s efforts to deal with the novel coronavirus pandemic. Zelenskyy had summoned Ukraine’s wealthiest businessmen for an emergency meeting on... MORE
The COVID-19 Pandemic Starts to Have Its Toll on the North Caucasus
COVID-19 has now started to spread to Russia’s North Caucasus republics, and regional authorities have been scrambling to mobilize scant resources to stave off the pandemic. As of March 30, officials confirmed infections in Adygea,... MORE
With Ever More Flights Canceled, Many Parts of Russia Isolated
In mid-March, the Russian media was celebrating the fact that air service had been restored to a part of rural Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, a federal subject in the Russian Far East, that had not seen... MORE
The Kremlin Delegates Unpopular Closedown Measures to Governors
The chief surgeon of the main Russian coronavirus medical facility on the outskirts of Moscow, in Kommunarka, Denis Protsenko (44), has contracted COVID-19 and is in seclusion within his own facility (RIA Novosti, March 31).... MORE
Escape from Pakistan: TTP Spokesperson Ehsan ullah Ehsan Fled from Custody
In February 2017, Pakistani security and law enforcement authorities managed to get Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson Ehsan ullah Ehsan to defect to Pakistani authorities. Or, at least, government officials proclaimed that he had surrendered to... MORE
The GNA’s Latest Defection: A Profile of the Tripoli Militiaman-Turned-Diplomat Mohamed Shaeban ‘al-Mirdas’
In January, Muhammed Shaeban, ‘al-Mirdas,’ resigned as the Libyan deputy ambassador and consul general in Tunis. Allegedly, he was about to be fired and decided to step down on his own. Mirdas was not only... MORE
AQAP’s New Emir: Who is Khalid Batarfi?
On February 23, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a video message from its prominent scholar Hamid al-Tamimi confirming the death of the group’s leader, Qasim al-Raymi, from a U.S. drone strike in Yemen... MORE
The Past as Precedent: Is the Taliban’s Military Chief Sirajuddin Haqqani Ready for Peace?
On February 29, the United States and the Taliban signed the “Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan” in Doha, Qatar. The agreement paves the way for a pullout of American troops from Afghanistan. The Taliban... MORE
Lukashenka Comes Under Widespread Fire for Lax COVID-19 Response
President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has come under growing public pressure and international criticism for not undertaking the types of pervasive quarantine and mobility restriction policies to limit the spread of COVID-19 that had become de rigueur... MORE