Latest Articles about Russia
Medvedev’s Ambitious Military Reform Plans
Russia has announced its most ambitious, systemic military modernization program since the collapse of the USSR, scheduled to deliver a more efficient and combat-ready military by 2020. These plans betray breathtaking confidence. They will include 955 Borey-type submarines, armed with the Bulava sea-launched ballistic missile;... MORE
The Gas Cartel Troika
On October 21, with oil prices falling below $69 a barrel on fears of a world-wide recession, three countries possessing over 50 percent of the World’s natural gas reserves agreed to the creation of a semi cartel known as the “Gas Troika.”Meeting in Tehran, Russia,... MORE
Terror Attacks Against U.S. and British Embassies Thwarted in Azerbaijan
Escalating threats of Islamist violence in Azerbaijan have prompted a massive government crackdown on militants. For over five years, analysts and political scientists in Azerbaijan have warned of the danger of a growing Salafist (“Wahhabi”) influence in the country. Since the beginning of the Second... MORE
Azerbaijan Increasingly Caught Between Salafism and Iran
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan became a battleground for many religious groups, sects and radical organizations. Being a predominantly secular society, Azerbaijanis cautiously watched the appearance of new religious movements. Neighboring countries such as Iran, Turkey as well as the Arab Gulf... MORE
Kyrgyzstan’s Manas Airbase: A Key Asset in the War on Terrorism
The collapse of communism in the USSR in 1991 and the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States a decade later offered the Pentagon basing possibilities impossible even to conceive of during the Cold War. The chief beneficiaries were Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, which were... MORE
Russia Threatens Hit-Squads after Murder of its Diplomats in Iraq
The brazen Baghdad kidnapping of four Russian embassy employees took place on June 3, only 400 meters from the Russian embassy. Violating the security protocols of the embassy, an embassy vehicle stopped at a local grocery store (on an unauthorized alcohol run, according to Kommersant... MORE
Islam, Jamaats and Implications for the North Caucasus – Part 2
For "Islam, Jamaats and Implications for the North Caucasus - Part 1," please see https://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2370014 Many of the military leaders of the North Caucasian jamaats were trained by warlord Ruslan Gelayev in the Pankisi Gorge before he led his guerrilla forces back into Ingushetia and... MORE
Islam, Jamaats and Implications for the North Caucasus – Part 1
In the last few years, Russian security forces have inflicted considerable damage on Chechen resistance forces, most notably with the elimination of Chechnya's president, the late Aslan Maskhadov. Like hitting a pool of burning oil with a hammer, however, their military blows have sent the... MORE
Al-Qaeda in Azerbaijan: Myths and Realities
After the events of September 11 and the subsequent war on terrorism, Azerbaijan became one of the active members of the anti-terrorism coalition. Besides providing a small contingent of troops for peace operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Azerbaijani government actively cooperates with the United... MORE
The Rise and Fall of Foreign Fighters in Chechnya
The recent killing of Saudi Sheikh Abu Omar Muhammad al-Sayf, a religious adviser to the Chechen resistance since 1995, heralded the demise of the first generation of Arab mujahideen in Chechnya. Their presence has had a profound effect upon the ongoing war in the Russian... MORE