Moscow has made considerable progress in its military modernization over the past decade, according to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who recently gave a speech highlighting key areas of development while offering upbeat statistics (TASS, January 29). While Shoigu confirmed that the levels of progress to... MORE

On January 24, 1919, the Bolshevik government launched a drive to exterminate the leadership of the Cossacks in Russia, viewing them as ineluctably hostile to the revolution. The original order was secret and specified that Bolsheviks should go after the atamans and other leaders of... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. Russia, not the Minsk Group, will reinvent the Minsk Group, and is working on it (see Part One in EDM, January 28). The object is not the 12-nation Minsk Group Conference (this has been inactive since the mid-1990s),... MORE

After a 13-month pause, construction of the Nord Stream Two natural gas pipeline reportedly resumed in late January, near Denmark’s Bornholm Island (TASS, January 24). Despite United States sanctions, the Russian pipelaying barge Fortuna arrived in Danish waters to build the remaining 160 kilometers (100... MORE

The idea to invite President Vladimir Putin to deliver a special address at the World Economic Forum, which made “The Great Reset” the theme for its annual Davos meeting last week (January 25–29), was dubious at best. Klaus Schwab, the veteran director of the forum,... MORE

The fourth year of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev rule proved his most difficult yet, not only because of the COVID-19 pandemic but also due to a series of natural and man-made disasters throughout 2020 that tested the Uzbekistani government’s strength to its limits. Poor-quality engineering and... MORE

The 44-day Second Karabakh War between Armenia and Azerbaijan, its Russian-mediated outcome, the launch of Russia’s own peacekeeping operation, and Turkey’s rise as a regional power have all exposed the Minsk Group’s irrelevance. Mandated by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) back... MORE

When analysts consider Vladimir Putin’s strategy for running the regions of the Russian Federation, they generally focus on his supra-regional “innovations.” Those have included the federal districts he created at the start of his presidency (Ura.ru, April 24, 2014), the amalgamation of federal subjects he... MORE

United States President Joseph Biden jolted the political-military leadership in Moscow with his eleventh-hour prolongation of the New START strategic nuclear arms control treaty that was scheduled to expire on February 5, 2021 (see EDM, January 21, 25, 2021). New START, signed by then-Presidents Barack... MORE

Army General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia’s General Staff (CGS) and first deputy defense minister, has been chosen as the new president of the Academy of Military Sciences (Akademii Voyennykh Nauk—AVN). This does not mean Gerasimov has left his current position as CGS; he... MORE