CSTO’s Secretary-General, Nikolai Bordyuzha, has expatiated on proposals to use the Collective Security Treaty Organization as a tool of Russian intervention within member countries. His latest statements focus on managing hypothetical internal upheavals in member countries (Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan) via the Russian-led... MORE

Russia and Belarus will stage a joint military exercise, Union Shield 2011, on September 16 to September 22 with low-key participation by Ukraine. On August 22, Army-General Nikolai Makarov, the Chief of the Russian General Staff took the unusual step of stressing that the exercise... MORE

On September 8, Nikolai Sintsov, an official with the Russian National Antiterrorist Committee, announced that a counterterrorist operation regime was introduced in three republics in the North Caucasus – Chechnya, Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria.  According to the official, large-scale operations were taking place in all three... MORE

During his meetings with President Dmitry Medvedev on August 24, Kim-Jong Il reportedly agreed to resume the six-party talks over North Korea’s nuclear weapons without preconditions; if the talks take place, he would then impose a moratorium on nuclear testing and production of (unspecified) nuclear... MORE

As winter approaches, the Ukraine-Russia gas price talks have been deadlocked, increasing the likelihood of a repetition of the “gas wars” of 2006 and 2009. Ukrainian officials pledged to avoid this but the situation is serious, with both sides firmly standing their ground. Ukraine repeatedly... MORE

Insurgency-related violence was reported in Dagestan, Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria this past week. An explosion in the center of Dagestan’s capital Makhachkala early today (September 9) injured four policemen. The blast took place shortly after midnight, when an apparent improvised explosive device that had been hidden in... MORE

Russian policy makers are in the process of defining conditions under which the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) might intervene to maintain political and civil order within member countries other than Russia (Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan). In practice, any CSTO interventions could... MORE

On August 30, seven policemen, one person from the emergency situations ministry and a civilian died in a double suicide bomb attack in the Chechen capital Grozny that also left 23 people injured (https://kp.ru, August 31). Two perpetrators of the attack were quickly identified as... MORE

The six month long civil war in Libya and the NATO air campaign to oust Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has created division within the ruling class in Moscow and aggravated anti-Western and anti-American sentiment. Last March President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin publicly clashed... MORE

President Dmitry Medvedev’s think-tank, the Institute for Contemporary Development (INSOR), has worked out proposals for reorganizing the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to raise its effectiveness and expand its role. The proposed changes would accelerate decision-making procedures in the CSTO; establish a right of... MORE