This report analyzes the training and personnel recruitment of the People’s Liberation Army Second Artillery Force (PLASAF), China’s main strategic deterrent force. While there has been a considerable amount of research on Second Artillery’s strategy, missions, equipment, and order of battle, two areas that have... MORE

This report provides an overview of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aviation branch’s aviator recruitment, education, and training. Although the focus of the report is on the PLAAF, it also briefly addresses PLA Navy’s (PLAN) Naval Aviation branch and PLA ground force’s (PLAA)... MORE

Zapad 2013 was a wide-scale military exercise carried out by the Russian and Belarusian military forces in September 2013. The joint maneuvers, which were held in Belarus and western Russia, simulated an incursion by foreign-backed “terrorist” groups originating from the Baltic States. This exercise—involving tens... MORE

Now Available from the Jamestown Store Well over six years of Chinese anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden have directly supported People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) modernization goals and provided invaluable experience operating in distant waters. Lessons learned have spawned PLAN innovations in doctrine, operations,... MORE

During the week of October 14–20, 2014, Eurasia Daily Monitor presented a series of special issues featuring net assessments of developments across Eurasia since the beginning of the year. Following Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity on the Maidan, and Russia’s ensuing cynical attack on the country... MORE

As a full-fledged war between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed irregulars rages on in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donbas, Western defense experts are only now beginning to thoroughly assess the military lessons of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Meanwhile, the Russian military again looks poised to intervene in... MORE

On Friday, September 13, 2013, The Jamestown Foundation hosted an event at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace entitled, "Azerbaijan and the Southern Gas Corridor to Europe: Implications for U.S. and European Energy Security." The event consisted of three panels, which discussed the game-changing nature... MORE

The November Issue of Militant Leadership Monitor features two briefs by Nicholas A. Heras. The first focuses on the recent announcement of the formation of al-Jabhat al-Islamiya (Islamic Front), a coalition of seven powerful opposition groups in Syria, with a look at one of its... MORE

In this Quarterly Special Report (QSR) on the rise of al-Shabaab, we focus on the various militants who are guiding al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda-aligned militant organization that aims to impose Shari’a in Somalia. The group began as a radical youth wing of Somalia’s Islamic Courts Union... MORE

The September Issue of Militant Leadership Monitor focuses on militant leaders in Africa and the Middle East. In the first brief, Nicholas A. Heras analyzes an Iraqi Shiite militia leader who has vowed vengeance if the United States and its Allies launch a strike on Syria. The... MORE