Russian efforts to control the Northern Sea Route and to secure exclusive access to the local seabed, from which it hopes to pump oil and natural gas as well as mine coal and other minerals for export, have been attracting increasing attention for years (see... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. *To read Part Two, please click here. The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Karabakh was the only Soviet-legacy conflict that did not feature Russian “peacekeeping” troops during the 26-year period between the first armistice, in 1994, and the latest armistice,... MORE

Introduction In the past decade, the China Coast Guard (CCG, 中国海警, zhongguo haijing) has experienced two major reforms. The first, which began in 2013, uprooted the service from the Ministry of Public Security—where it was organized as an element of the People’s Armed Police (PAP)—and... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. Under the November 9–10, 2020 armistice declaration, Russia’s “peacekeeping” mission in Upper (Nagorno) Karabakh is limited to 1,960 motor-rifle troops with light weapons and armored personnel carriers (see EDM, November 12, 13, 2020). According to Russian President Vladimir Putin,... MORE

In November 2020, Russia and Egypt conducted their first joint naval exercises in the Black Sea. The Bridge of Friendship-2020 naval drills brought the Egyptian Navy to the Black Sea for the first time (PortNews.ru, November 16, 2020). Along with expanding military cooperation with Cairo,... MORE

Russia’s “peacekeeping” operation in Upper (Nagorno) Karabakh, which ended the 44-day war last November, is laying the foundation of a Russian protectorate in this Armenian-inhabited territory of Azerbaijan (see EDM, December 8, 10, 2020). This undertaking shows some familiar features of Russia’s earlier “peacekeeping” model... MORE

The Kremlin-controlled Russian media and top officialdom have greeted President Joe Biden and his administration taking power in the US with a massive, almost hysterical propaganda broadside. Kremlin news outlets have been castigating Biden as an old and senile figurehead president, who will hardly survive... MORE

On December 22, 2020, Russia announced sending additional military instructors to the Central African Republic (CAR). Despite initial rejection, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) ultimately admitted the fact of sending additional personnel to the CAR, specifying that the “instructors” would be used only to... MORE

Vladimir Putin’s much-ballyhooed plans to project power in the Arctic have attracted widespread notice and sparked serious concerns in many countries, with some like the US committing themselves to building up an icebreaker fleet to be able to challenge Russia in that strategically important region... MORE

Russia’s “hard power” activity in the Sea of Azov has increased significantly since May 2018, when the authorities officially opened the Kerch Strait Bridge they had been building since the illegal annexation of Crimea (UNIAN, May 15, 2018). Immediately, experts identified Moscow’s bridge building project... MORE