On October 7, the European Parliament (EP) passed a resolution demanding that the European Union (EU) impose the fifth package of economic sanctions on Belarus, including additional sectors, such as metallurgy, woodworking, and chemical. According to the EP, the sanctions should affect “all remaining uncovered... MORE

According to various reports, members of Russia’s notorious Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) have been transported to Mali to render assistance to the local interim government (Rosbalt.ru, September 27). Given the presence of Russian mercenaries in other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa (Ifri.org, September 11, 2020),... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here.   A constant drumbeat of Russian propaganda and sensationalist international reporting has created the impression that Russia’s naval forces are much more formidable than is actually the case. This has convinced some Western decision-makers that any policy designed... MORE

Military exercises not only make known what a government believes could happen but become an occasion for its analysts and those in other countries to speculate as to what the outcomes of a real military conflict would be if the scenarios were to be applied... MORE

On September 28, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB—one of the main successor organizations of the Soviet KGB) published an official order, Number 376, that lists some 60 ambiguous reference points covering all possible information about the state of battle readiness, location, structure and operations... MORE

After a brief lull in fighting, the rebels of the Yemeni Houthi movement, Ansar Allah, are closer than they have ever been to surrounding Marib city. The city, which is the capital of the governorate of the same name, is also the de-facto capital of... MORE

Islamic State’s Canadian ‘Voice’ Facing Terrorism Charges in the U.S.    During Islamic State (IS)’s heyday, before the collapse of its ‘territorial caliphate’ in Iraq and Syria in 2019, a Saudi-born Canadian IS member, Mohamed Khalifa, became the main voice of IS by narrating numerous... MORE

On September 21, 2021, Iran kicked off military drills near the Azerbaijani districts of Fizuli, Jebrayil and Zangilan, which Azerbaijan had de-occupied last year, during the Second Karabakh War with Armenia. The Iranian exercises marked the first time in history that Tehran carried out war... MORE

In the last decade, Russia has increasingly sought to show off its muscles to the rest of the world. Extensive Russian propaganda has focused on purported successes in the country’s rearmament and military modernization programs, going some way toward convincing the West of the worsening... MORE

On September 20, Tashkent hosted a conference on the topic “Russia and Uzbekistan facing the challenges of development and security at a new historical stage of interaction.” This gathering, jointly organized by Russia’s Valdai International Discussion Club and the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies... MORE