On February 14, a double suicide attack took place in the Dagestani village of Gubden. Two servicemen were reportedly killed and 20 others were injured in the attack. First, a female suicide bomber attacked a local police station early in the evening (RIA Novosti, February... MORE

China’s January 2011 announcement of its new J-20 stealth fighter caused consternation in the US. Indeed, the subsequent blizzard of press controversy led the Pentagon to admit that its intelligence had underestimated China’s progress and capability in building an air force. Lost in all this... MORE

Kazakhstan’s main opposition party Azat intends to boycott the country’s presidential polls to be held in early April, which President Nursultan Nazarbayev is expected to win by a wide margin.  This decision was made at the party’s congress in Almaty on February 12 because calling... MORE

The establishment of the European Union’s External Action Service, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) chairmanship by Lithuania, and the electoral success of Moldova’s pro-European governing coalition, are cumulatively energizing international efforts to unblock the negotiations on the Transnistria conflict. These converging... MORE

A key feature in the reform of Russia’s conventional armed forces was the concept of “permanent readiness,” built around forming permanently combat ready brigades, fully manned, and jettisoning the old cadre or skeleton units. On February 10, the Chief of the General Staff, Army-General Nikolai... MORE

Armenia has announced the effective demise of its Western-backed rapprochement with Turkey, which could see relations between the two historical enemies sink to a new low. Yerevan has accused Ankara of “ruining” the normalization agreements signed by the two governments in October 2009 and threatened... MORE

During a visit to Kabardino-Balkaria on February 9, Moscow’s envoy to the North Caucasus, Aleksandr Khloponin, tried to reassure the region’s government and public of Moscow’s support against the growing insurgency in the beleaguered republic. At a meeting with a group of 200 students in... MORE

The visit to Moscow by Japan’s Foreign Minister, Seiji Maehara, on February 11 did not lessen the diplomatic row between Russia and Japan that acquired a spectacular character during the last two weeks (RIA Novosti, Kommersant, February 12). The Kremlin appeared prepared rather than perplexed... MORE

Germany is joining a scramble among West-European producers of military equipment for Russian orders. NATO and the United States are silent bystanders to this growing trend, which challenges the Alliance’s defense posture and planning, as well as the US’s hitherto trend-setting role in the Alliance.On... MORE

Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia are each planning to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) reception terminal with a re-gasification plant on their Baltic littorals at Swinoujscie, Klaipeda, and near Riga, respectively. These projects can break Gazprom’s monopoly in the three Baltic States and Poland, creating... MORE