The escalation of repressions against all manifestations of discontent in Russia inevitably results in greater influence of the country’s special services and police, often described as the siloviki (literally, power-wielders). This plain fact has come into sharper focus when the Kremlin found it necessary to... MORE

Introduction A linchpin of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)’s transformation into a “world-class military” is whether it can recruit, cultivate, and retain talent, especially among the officer corps tasked with planning and conducting future wars. Uneven progress over the past few decades has meant that... MORE

Armenia’s military top brass has demanded that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government resign “for having brought the country to disaster.” Blaming Pashinian for overall incompetence and the recent lost war, the generals have nevertheless stopped short of attempting a coup d’état (see EDM, February 25,... MORE

In late February, TASS reported that Russian designers have come up with “a new class of ship.” The vessel, nicknamed the Varan, will function as an aircraft carrier as well as perform other duties, be small enough to not require the renovation of Russian shipyards... MORE

The ceasefire on the line of control in the breakaway Donbas region of eastern Ukraine is unraveling. In July 2020, both sides—the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) and the Moscow-backed “separatists”—agreed to enforce a “full suspension of hostilities.” Both sides withdrew heavy weapons from the frontline... MORE

According to Russian military media, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has expressed growing confidence in the Armed Forces’ electronic warfare (EW) capabilities. This has proved to be a consistent area of military modernization over the past decade for Russia. However, according to a growing number of... MORE

Following the Moscow-brokered ceasefire and post-war declarations signed by Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan that ended the 2020 Second Karabakh War, the international community has generally concluded three things. First is that the Karabakh conflict is over; second, that the benefits of reopening transportation routes are... MORE

The ongoing expansion of wireless internet connectivity around the world has concurrently raised a host of unresolved issues about cyberspace, including access, conductivity, taxation and cyberwar, as states attempt to secure their digital frontier while boosting their influence against competitors. And cutting-edge technology innovation is,... MORE

Since Moscow’s entry into the civil war in Syria in September 2015, its experimentation with high-precision cruise missile strikes has served to boost this element of the Russian defense industry and to convince the political-military leadership to prioritize the further development of such systems (see... MORE

The top brass of Armenia’s Armed Forces along with a broad coalition of political groups have moved to oust Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his government from power, thus far nonviolently (see EDM, February 25, 26). From the first hours of this confrontation (February 25),... MORE