Tensions flared between the United States and Russia, with Moscow’s top generals and diplomats insisting that Washington is siding with terrorist groups in Syria to attack Russian soldiers and their allies. Russia’s defense minister, Army General Sergei Shoigu, reportedly canceled a visit to Belarus last... MORE

Nothing is eternal under the moon. Indeed, Belarusian attitudes toward Russia, the country’s meaningful other, are visibly shifting. Similarly, international opinions of Belarus’s national leader are currently exhibiting signs of change. Even the Belarusian opposition is now undergoing a transformation of sorts. Russia’s commanding position... MORE

With Russia and the United States increasingly engaged in a new “cold war” of sorts, maintaining nuclear parity has become a vital strategic priority for Moscow. But despite regular reports by Russian military leaders of successes in building and deploying new nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, actual... MORE

Many countries around the world are now threatened by rising sea levels in coastal areas as a result of climate change and the melting of the polar ice caps. Russia is experiencing such a scenario in the Arctic. But it is also facing another serious... MORE

The Russian military operation in Syria has highlighted “urban warfare,” information security and electronic warfare (EW) as crucial elements of how Moscow envisions the “wars of the future” will be fought. However, Russia’s top brass is currently allocating a central role to the development of... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin opted not to attend this year’s United Nations General Assembly, in New York City; but he nevertheless kept up the pretense of the wise statesman among bickering politicians. Every opening to present Russia as a responsible stakeholder in global affairs was... MORE

The attendance of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at this year’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session (September 12–25, 2017) highlighted the importance Kyiv places on the draft resolution it submitted to the UN calling for an international peacekeeping mission in Donbas. Indirectly reacting to Poroshenko’s... MORE

The Zapad 2017 military exercise is officially over. Russian tank and airborne (VDV) units are being withdrawn from Belarus as well as Kaliningrad, Leningrad and Pskov oblasts, and moved back to their permanent bases (Militarynews.ru, September 22). On October 1, the autumn call-up of some... MORE

As North Korea’s accelerating missile and nuclear tests continue to intensify tensions on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea is seeking to broaden the country’s diplomatic and defense contacts beyond its traditional reliance on the United States. Increasingly, that search for new partners is focusing on... MORE

From July 21 to July 28, 2017, the Chinese and Russian navies conducted a week of joint drills in the Baltic Sea, the first of their planned two-phase bilateral maritime exercises for 2017. This was the latest iteration of what the Chinese call “Joint Sea”... MORE