Introduction Earlier this week, some residents of Seoul, South Korea, received an emergency alert to prepare for a potential evacuation following military reports that North Korea had fired a projectile southward (Yonhap, May 31). The alerts, which stemmed from an errant North Korean satellite launch... MORE

On May 7–9, Kyrgyzstani President Sadyr Japarov paid an official visit to Russia. During the visit, besides meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Japarov also sat down with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of the Russian State Duma. Later, Volodin accompanied the... MORE

Belarus’s hyper-dependency on multifaceted external factors and the role of the Russo-Ukrainian war in increasing this dependency has been further confirmed by three recent events (see EDM, April 26). First, Roman Protasevich, the former operator of the “NEXTA” Telegram channel, was recently acquitted by Belarusian... MORE

On May 22, as a result of Russian shelling of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) was cut off from the central power grid once again. As a result, the plant was switched to standby for the seventh time since the beginning... MORE

The hit-and-run raid by anti-Putin Russian operatives—Kyiv officially claims that the raid was conducted by combatant units made up of Russian citizens, while Moscow claims it was the work of Ukrainian-supported “terrorists”—in the Belgorod region took place only several kilometers away from one of 12... MORE

The Russian political class, epitomized by the ruling United Russia party and its leaders, might well be one of the most destructive phenomena that has swept the country in recent decades. Anything goes to ensure their grip on power stays firm, and the pleasures of... MORE

The U.S. appears to have succeeded in coaxing its European and Asian allies into adopting a united policy to counter China, even as the Xi Jinping administration flexed its muscle, demonstrating Beijing’s increasing power and influence in Central Asia. At their meeting in Hiroshima, Japan... MORE

Last month, on the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership (中越全面战略合作伙伴关系), Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping met with Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) Politburo Member and Head of the Central Committee Organization Commission Truong Thi Mai and... MORE

Introduction In early March, a flotilla of more than 40 suspected Chinese maritime militia vessels swarmed around Pag-asa (Thitu) Island, the Philippines’ largest outpost in the South China Sea (SCS) (The Philippine Star, March 5; The Maritime Executive, March 5; Radio Free Asia, March 5).... MORE

The last year has been a difficult one for Taiwan. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) intensification of diplomatic, economic, military and political pressure on Taiwan, along with disinformation, espionage and influence operations conducted through United Front work and... MORE