Military analysts will be closely watching next month’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization anti-terrorist exercise, "Peace Mission 2007.” The drill will be the SCO’s largest joint exercise in its six-year history. Contingents from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan will take part, along with their country’s... MORE

The attacks by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that have resumed since the summer of 2004 have left behind an unprecedented number of casualties. In the face of the deteriorating situation in its struggle against the PKK, the Turkish military has, on a number of... MORE

Last month the Russian Navy announced a successful launch of the new Bulava (SS-NX-30) sea-based intercontinental ballistic missile. Igor Digalo, chief of the navy press service, declared, “The test was successful, the missile performed according to plan on all stages of flight, the warheads hit... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin has characterized the current deterioration of Russian-U.K. relations as a “mini-crisis” that would be overcome in the “interests of common sense.” In fact, however, this diplomatic row is shaping up like no other, and Putin’s definition of “common sense” might prove... MORE

On July 19 Transneft president Semyon Vainshtok told the press that Russian demands “are becoming more severe” toward Western companies in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). The added severity includes a concoction of tax claims retroactively. The U.S. companies Chevron and ExxonMobil are among the... MORE

The six-party talks over North Korea’s denuclearization resumed Wednesday, July 18, amid real grounds for cautious optimism. The agreement reached in February 2007 has held despite some delays in implementation, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that the DPRK has shut down... MORE