The political situation in Ukraine has been heating up as the European Union’s November 28–29 Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius approaches. Kyiv is preparing to sign an Association Agreement (AA) with the EU at Vilnius, but it is not yet certain whether the signing will... MORE

In an interview aired by state TV channel Rossiya last weekend, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spelled out the three main military threats Russia is facing: international Islamist terrorism, the withdrawal of Western coalition forces from Afghanistan in 2014, and the continued expansion of the North... MORE

On October 26–27, the sixth convocation of the Crimean Tatar Qurultay (Crimean Tatar National Congress) took place in Simferopol, Crimea, and elected a new chairperson for the Crimean Tatar Mejlis (de facto, 33-member quasi governing assembly of Crimean Tatars). After the final count of the... MORE

An article intended to discredit Tatarstan and the Tatars by suggesting that radical Islamists have made significant inroads in the Middle Volga has the unintended consequence of calling attention to three things Moscow is reluctant to acknowledge. First, the Kazan Tatars are far more tolerant... MORE

On November 5, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that police repeatedly “detained, harassed, and threatened to imprison” two Norwegian journalists who were headed for Sochi. The two journalists were with TV2, the Norwegian TV station that will be an official broadcaster of the Sochi Olympics... MORE

According to General-Lieutenant Viktor Sevostianov, the commander of air forces in the Central Military District, which controls the Kant airbase in Kyrgyzstan, Russia plans to double the number of its aircraft there before the end of 2013 (https://argumenti.ru/army/2013/10/293863). Sevostianov made the announcement during an October... MORE

Ukraine’s parliament has made two steps towards the signing of an association and free trade agreement with the European Union, scheduled for November 28–29 in Vilnius. On November 8, it gave preliminary approval to amendments to the parliamentary election law and to a new law... MORE

Since President Vladimir Putin appointed Sergei Shoigu to be Russia’s defense minister in November 2012, the defense ministry leadership has resorted to Soviet-era “snap inspections” of its Armed Forces to raise combat readiness and gain additional insight into the condition of various units. Such an... MORE

Steadfast Jazz 2013, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) exercise just held in the three Baltic States and Poland (see accompanying article), marks the start of rebalancing the Alliance’s missions: from an disproportionate concentration on distant, low-intensity though resource-absorbing, and politically ineffective wars (epitomized by... MORE

On November 2–November 9, the NATO Response Force (NRF) conducted the Steadfast Jazz 2013 troop exercise in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, combined with the Baltic Host logistical exercise in the latter three Baltic States. The hosting countries had been awaiting exercises of this type... MORE