Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, was in Kaliningrad on June 20, where he declared that Moscow was preparing a serious response to what he called Lithuania’s (already three-day-long) “transportation blockade” of that Russian exclave (Ren.tv, June 21). Hours earlier, the Russian... MORE

The West’s fears of humiliating Russia too much by ensuring its defeat in the war against Ukraine run much more deeply than the unfortunate turn of phrase uttered in recent weeks by French President Emmanuel Macron (see EDM, June 13). Last Thursday (June 16), Macron... MORE

Introduction On January 21, General Secretary and Central Military Commission (CMC) chairman  Xi Jinping promoted seven senior People’s Liberation Army (PLA) military and armed police officers to the rank of general: Political Commissar (PC) of Northern Theater Command Liu Qingsong, Commander of Central Theater Command... MORE

Introduction State media in China remains equivocal about the level of destruction and mayhem caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, the Chinese government has stated it will meet the challenge of overcoming strained global supplies resulting from the conflict, and has emphasized that... MORE

After more than three months of its undeclared war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia fired over 2,100 cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles at targets inside the embattled country. Now it is facing a growing deficit of these types of stand-off weapons (Twitter.com/DefenceHQ, June 11).... MORE

Since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in August 2021, it has made the transition from a guerrilla force to a governing body, while being faced with an array of severe economic challenges that threaten to undermine its rule (TOLOnews, May 4). In attempt to... MORE

New Alignments Emerge Among Al-Qaeda's West African Affiliates In late 2021, al-Qaeda’s Nigerian affiliate, Ansaru, pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which formalized the relationship between the groups that had existed since AQIM permitted Ansaru to break from Boko Haram in 2012... MORE

On May 31, Denmark’s largest energy company, Ørsted, and the Netherlands’ state-owned GasTerra became the latest victims of Russian natural gas supply termination for refusing to pay for this resource in Russian rubles, as demanded by President Vladimir Putin. In prior weeks, Moscow halted gas... MORE

On June 8–10, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov paid a two-day visit to Yerevan, where he met with Armenian leaders and attended a foreign ministerial session of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) (Armeniasputnik.am, June 8). His talks with the Armenian representatives and his statements... MORE

While Ukraine is engaged in an all-out effort to convince its Western partners to increase and speed up weapons assistance so that it can defend itself more effectively against Russian aggression, Moldova has taken a different tack. Ever since the start of the Russian re-invasion... MORE