Since the Syrian civil war erupted nearly seven years ago, perhaps the most dramatic regional diplomatic development has been the steady reemergence of Russia as a major player in the convoluted world of Middle East politics. As a reward for its intervention in Syria, Russia... MORE

Since 2014, people smuggling and human trafficking has become a lucrative business in Libya, benefiting the country’s rival militias and tribes, but fueling instability. Efforts by the European Union (EU), in particular Italy, to combat the problem have had some partial success—in one of the most... MORE

On January 31, Colonel Anatoliy Gorodetskiy, commander of the 152nd Missile Brigade based in Chernyakhovsk (Kaliningrad Oblast), claimed that the infrastructure necessary to host the Iskander-M mobile ballistic missile system (NATO classification SS-26 Stone), with a striking range of 500 kilometres, has been fully prepared... MORE

On February 20, the US Ambassador to Georgia, Ian Kelly, took part in the opening of the Strategic Communication Training program for Georgian public servants. This program aims to boost the communication skills of government employees in Georgia, both on the national and regional levels.... MORE

“The world is one step from a global confrontation with unpredictable consequences,” declared President Alyaksandr Lukashenka at the meeting of Belarus’s Security Council. “Whereas Russia will bear the brunt of defending our common space, there is no understanding on the part of Russia’s leadership that... MORE

On February 4, Romanian Defense Minister Mihai Fifor arrived on an official two-day visit to Moldova. In a joint press conference, Moldovan Defense Minister Eugen Sturza thanked his counterpart and the Romanian government for its support in modernizing and developing the defense legal-strategic framework, educating... MORE

Many still view Belarus’s foreign and security policies through the prism of several popular but simplistic narratives. One of them classifies Belarus as Russia’s geopolitical backyard and, thus, tends to interpret every international move by Minsk as dictated by the Kremlin. Within another narrative, the... MORE

As Russian-Egyptian military and economic cooperation increases, many comparisons have been made with Egypt’s early post-independence era (1956–1971), when Cairo grew close to Moscow. Egypt’s current strategic position, however, bears closer similarities to the foreign policy of the first decades of rule by the founder... MORE

Kazakhstan’s parliament introduced new legislation, on January 24, 2018, pertaining to the National Security Council (KNSC) (Abctv.kz, January 24). The legislation notably follows last year’s adoption of a new military strategy, which focuses on ways to strengthen national security and domestic stability (see EDM, October... MORE

China began 2018 by making important strategic moves in the shipping industry. On January 10, COSCO Shipping Development, COSCO Shipping’s leasing finance arm announced a plan to establish a shipping fund with state-controlled China Cinda Asset Management Co., Ltd. to finance ship assets (Splash24/7, January 10). COSCO Shipping,... MORE