Latest Articles about Military/Security
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Checkmate: Russia’s So-Called Fifth-Generation Stealth Fighter
Despite another wave of deadly COVID-19 coronavirus infections ravaging Moscow and spreading out into the provinces, the Russian authorities went ahead with staging the MAKS-2021 air-and-space show on the outskirts of Moscow, in Zhukovsky. On opening day, July 20, President Vladimir Putin visited the exposition,... MORE
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Tensions Escalate Again in Armenian-Azerbaijani Relations
On July 15, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan reported that Armenia’s Armed Forces had attacked positions of the Azerbaijani Army in the direction of the recently liberated Kalbajar region (Mod.gov.az, July 15). The attack, conducted “using small arms,” was met with retaliation by the... MORE
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Beijing Expanding Size and Role of Its ‘Private’ Military Companies in Central Asia
For the last several years, China has made use of its own private military companies (PMC) to guard Chinese industrial sites and transportation networks across Central Asia that it views as essential to its broader “One Belt, One Road” (more recently known as the Belt... MORE
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Russia, Turkey Compete to Entice Azerbaijan Into Their Geopolitical Plays
During the latest session of the Council of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), on July 1, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, the participants effectively introduced the category of a CSTO “partner state” by setting the criteria and provisions for granting such a... MORE
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Expanding and Escalating the China-Bhutan Territorial Dispute
Introduction At the 10th Expert Group Meeting on the Bhutan-China Boundary Issue, held from April 6 to 9 in Kunming, Yunnan Province, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Kingdom of Bhutan agreed to hold the 25th round of boundary talks at a “mutually... MORE
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The PLA’s Critical Assessment of the Agile Combat Employment Concept
Introduction From April to May 2021, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) conducted a second exercise to test the Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept and also committed to training units to implement ACE (U.S. Air Force, May 15; Air Combat Command, May 12). ACE is the... MORE
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Ramping the Strait: Quick and Dirty Solutions to Boost Amphibious Lift
Introduction The threat of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) using military force to coerce or perhaps launch an amphibious invasion of Taiwan has received significant attention in the past year. Meanwhile, the recent commissioning of the PLA Navy’s first Type-075 amphibious assault ship has further... MORE
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Amidst Taliban Gains, Russian Strategic Assets Threatened in Central Asia
On July 8, a high-ranking Taliban delegation came to Moscow and held talks with Zamir Kabulov, a former ambassador to Kabul, the Kremlin’s special envoy on Afghanistan and a department chief in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Apparently, the Taliban representatives hoped to meet Russian... MORE
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Taliban Controls Afghanistan’s Northern Borders, Unsettling Countries Near and Far
With the ongoing withdrawal of the United States’ military forces and the consequent weakening of the Afghan government, the Taliban now controls much of the territory of Afghanistan and most of its northern borders, posing a threat to its three immediate northern neighbors (Tajikistan, Turkmenistan... MORE
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NATO-Georgia: A Pause in the Integration Process?
In early July, James Appathurai, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) special representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, held a series of top-level meetings in Georgia. The Georgian authorities greeted their guest from Brussels warmly and with much fanfare. President Salome Zurabishvili awarded Appathurai with... MORE