On October 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the “National Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the Period Until 2030.” The documents calls for “accelerated development of AI,” including an emphasis on “research, availability of information and computing resources for users” as... MORE

The massive spontaneous eruption of street protests in East Germany 30 years ago culminated in the breach of the ominous Berlin Wall, and that breakthrough determined the end of the Soviet system and collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) two years later.... MORE

On October 21, the Kazakhstani media space went into a frenzy following the publication of a presidential decree that endows the now-former president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, with extensive executive responsibilities. More specifically, Nazarbayev’s successor, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, signed off on Nazarbayev’s de facto veto power over high-level... MORE

Addressing a forum in Mariupol (port city in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Donetsk province) on October 31, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outlined an upcoming “state strategy for the reintegration of Donbas and Crimea” into Ukraine. The dual-purpose forum included a conference for international and Ukrainian... MORE

In 1961, three days before leaving office, United States President Dwight Eisenhower warned against the military-industrial complex, a term that resonates to this day. But in fact, the outgoing commander-in-chief had originally intended to speak of “a military-industrial-congressional complex” because he believed he saw the... MORE

In May 2018, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine placed Russian billionaire and “aluminum magnate” Oleg Deripaska, who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as three companies related to him (United Company RUSAL and its Moscow- and Cyprus-based branches, Judson... MORE

“No to Capitulation” protests have swept Ukraine after the country’s delegation to the Minsk Contact Group agreed, on October 1, to the implementation of the so-called “Steinmeier Formula” for the resolution of the Donbas conflict and the withdrawal of forces in two frontline locations (Zolote... MORE

This year’s (October 7–8) Minsk Dialogue forum, entitled, “European Security: Stepping Back from the Brink,” attracted over 700 participants from Europe, Russia, the United States, Belarus and China (Minskdialogue.by, October 10), exceeding the number of attendees at the first such gathering, held in May 2018... MORE

The Grom 2019 exercise of Russian strategic forces last week (October 15–17) received limited media attention, which was overwhelmed by the escalation of the Syrian calamity (see EDM, October 17) and the continuation of the Brexit drama. But this year’s Grom maneuvers were, in fact,... MORE

The future of Christian Orthodoxy in Latvia faces a choice between the Estonian scenario, in which there will be two Orthodox Churches recognized by Riga (one subordinate to Moscow and the other to Constantinople), or the Ukrainian one, in which there will emerge a single... MORE