On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his “special military operation” against Ukraine, a brutal conflict that has highlighted the Russian military’s shortcomings in excruciating detail. The Russian Black Sea Fleet (BSF), jointly based with the Ukrainian navy until 2014 at Crimea’s Port... MORE

On December 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin took part, via videoconference, in the commissioning ceremony for the Kovykta gas field, the largest in Eastern Siberia (Kremlin.ru, December 21, 2022). The field’s recoverable reserves are estimated at 1.8 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, but... MORE

Earlier this month, People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP), ran an article by its Washington correspondent entitled “America’s Intractable Illicit and Pharmaceutical Drug Abuse Issue” (People’s Daily, January 6, 2023). The piece claims that “more and more American adolescents are... MORE

Introduction With Chinese authorities having shifted away from a zero-COVID policy at the end of November, the country now faces an unresolved dilemma as to its future approach to  economic development and public health policies. A critical question is: will the Dengist doctrine of "Reform... MORE

Introduction At the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) last October, General Secretary Xi Jinping lauded the achievements of his anti-corruption campaign, reminding the audience that a total of 207,000 “top leaders” (一把手) at all levels had been investigated by the discipline... MORE

Introduction Kazakhstan is seeking to boost bilateral ties with China, which is reopening international travel after abandoning its Zero-COVID policy late last year (Kazinform, January 17). However, “Kazakh Gen Zs” born in the 2000s are worried about their country’s increasing dependency on China. [1] “China is... MORE

Introduction The existential North Korean nuclear and missile threats negatively impact the Asia-Pacific security environment for the United States, South Korea, Japan and Australia. In response, these countries have taken countermeasures to defend themselves against the growing danger from North Korea. As a result, North... MORE

*Read Part One here. The recently established military relationship between South Korea and Poland is a multidimensional phenomenon, reaching beyond security in its traditional meaning. In fact, large-scale arms contracts are almost always politicized and followed or accompanied by intensified economic ties. Certainly, in the... MORE

Numerous Russian media outlets (e.g., RBC, January 22) echoed the content of a recent US media report, according to which rare earth metals necessary for the production of microchips, electronics and armor-piercing ammunition are still being delivered to the European Union from China by rail.... MORE

In March, Islamic State (IS)’s centralized media apparatus announced the selection of a new caliph, Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Quraysh, and IS provinces began disseminating photos and short videos to show pledges of allegiance to him (al-Furqan Media, March 10). The Islamic State in East Asia... MORE