*To read Part One, please click here. *To read Part Two, please click here. *To read Part Three, please click here. The European Union has a 30-year handicap to overcome in tackling the Russia-orchestrated conflicts in the wider Black Sea region. Midway through that interval,... MORE

The international situation both triggered the ongoing crisis in Belarus—at least in the minds of some observers—and continues to have implications for its evolution. According to Belarusian KGB head Ivan Tertel, the August–September 2020 rallies protesting the official presidential election results were expressly sparked from... MORE

One of the most memorable stories from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was the non-start of Belarusian athlete Kristina Timanovskaya, who dared to criticize her country’s sport authorities and found herself escorted by coaches to the airport, where she managed to flee. Russian mainstream media provided... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. *To read Part Two, please click here. The European Union is undertaking initial exploratory steps following Romania’s proposals to support the EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries affected by protracted (“frozen”) conflicts (see Parts One and Two in EDM,... MORE

On July 20, Russian United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), Rostec and Sukhoi officially unveiled their newest single-engine fighter, nicknamed the “Checkmate,” at the MAKS airshow (see EDM, July 22). According to UAC, the serial production of the Checkmate could be launched in 2026 (Life, June 20).... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. The European Union has yet to develop a policy regarding the protracted (“frozen”) conflicts in the wider Black Sea region. Russia is both a belligerent and an arbiter in these conflicts, negating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of... MORE

In two battlegrounds 1,500 kilometers apart, veteran Chechen freelance fighters are being rebuked by those with whom they aligned against a common foe. In June, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the main rebel group in the Idlib Governorate of Syria, issued a demand that the hundreds... MORE

Romania’s minister of foreign affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, is spearheading an initiative within the European Union to involve the EU in the management and eventual resolution of the protracted conflicts in the wider Black Sea region. Ten other EU member states (Portugal, Sweden and eight Central-Eastern... MORE

Combat ships lined the Neva River in St. Petersburg and crowded the harbor of the nearby Kronstadt naval base last Sunday (July 25) for the parade marking the 325th anniversary of Russia’s navy, the Military-Maritime Fleet (Voyenno-Morskoy Flot—VMF). It was only the sixth such Navy... MORE

The sudden collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), in December 1991, and fracturing into 15 independent states effectively destroyed its unified, centrally planned, autarkic economy. The massive former Soviet defense sector was particularly hard-hit; during the 1990s, it scrambled to cope with... MORE