As a fairly small (population-wise) country squeezed between Russia and the European Union, Belarus is destined to be a geopolitical tuning fork, whose reactions and demeanor, if properly understood, provide valuable feedback to the policies of its more powerful neighbors. Thus, one can observe that... MORE

The joint Belarusian-Russian Zapad 2021 combined strategic exercise (sovmestnoe strategicheskoe uchenie), which lasted from September 10 to 16, witnessed numerous tests and experiments involving Russia’s Armed Forces—something that was entirely expected, since the annual strategic-operational military exercises naturally serve as the culmination of the combat training... MORE

Angered by Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s repressive moves and desirous of being on the right side of history, Western governments have imposed increasingly tough sanctions on Belarus (see EDM, May 18, June 30, August 10). But to a remarkable degree, they have restrained from taking even harsher... MORE

Tensions on the Serbian-Kosovo border have rapidly escalated, threatening to spiral into a renewed conflict in the Balkans. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has ordered military and police units on heightened alert after Kosovo Serbs initiated protests against Pristina’s new vehicle license plates requirements and blocked... MORE

The port of Chabahar—located on the Makran coast of Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan Province, near to the Gulf of Oman and at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz—is the only Iranian port with direct access to the Indian Ocean. Thanks to its strategic position... MORE

In late summer, Latvia and Finland officially agreed on a deal for Riga to purchase more than 200 armored personnel carriers (APC) developed by the Finnish company Patria as well as the transfer of technological “know-how,” so that some of the 6x6 wheeled platforms that... MORE

Dozens of individuals were detained after clashes in Yevpatoria, in Russian-annexed Ukrainian Crimea, on the night of September 22. Police fired shots into the air to stop the rioters and arrested 58 people as a result of the disturbances. Law enforcement reportedly found small arms... MORE

Two high-resonance processes have been simultaneously unfolding in Europe in the last few weeks: the sharp increase in the prices on natural gas (see EDM, August 11) as well as the fierce contestation in the parliamentary elections in Germany. Each one is driven by a... MORE

When the Taliban swept into Kabul on August 15, many assumed that this would lead to a shakeup of the geopolitical order in neighboring Central Asia, with the countries there either seeking protection from the Russian Federation or moving to cooperate more closely with each... MORE

On September 17–19, elections to Russia’s State Duma (lower house of parliament) were unlawfully staged in the Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine’s east (Donetsk and Luhansk) as well as in annexed Crimea. Elections to the Russian Duma were also held unlawfully in Transnistria, Abkhazia and South... MORE