The Russian Armed Forces have benefited from and been boosted by their operation in Syria, more than any other military intervention in Russia’s post-Soviet history. President Vladimir Putin used the opportunity of his visit to the Russian airbase in Latakia, on December 11, to announce... MORE

Last month, at the Halifax Security Forum, Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz, known for his strong anti-Russia stance, restated his claim that Russia and Belarus’ joint strategic exercise Zapad 2017 was a preparation for an offensive against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (naTemat.pl, November... MORE

In his last address before retiring as China’s security chief in October, Meng Jianzhu (孟建柱) briefed members of the Politburo Standing Committee on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to predict threats to social order (Sina, September 21). AI-enabled policing is the latest evolution of... MORE

As 2017 draws to a close, Romania is doubling down on its defense posture. Through a series of transformative policies and military acquisitions, Bucharest is trying to meet the Russian challenge in the Black Sea and implement the decisions of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s... MORE

China’s paramount leader, Xi Jinping, has emerged from the recent 19th Party Congress stronger than at least his past two predecessors. Xi solidified his grip on power by enshrining “Xi Jinping Thought” into the Party constitution and unveiling a new Politburo Standing Committee that does... MORE

Based on the words of the Russian leadership and the actions of local officials, the country has entered a new stage of confrontation with the West and now has to prepare for looming war. Speaking, on November 22, at a meeting of defense ministry leaders... MORE

Though Sudan’s national economy is near collapse, the November 23 visit of Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir to Russia’s top leadership in Sochi was dominated by expensive arms purchases and Sudan’s appeal to Russia for “protection from aggressive actions by the United States” (TASS, November 23;... MORE

A Russian court in occupied Sevastopol sentenced Ukrainian former military expert Dmitry Shtyblykov, on November 16, to five years imprisonment in a strict penal colony (Regnum, November 16). Shtyblykov worked at the think tank Nomos, which, prior to the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014,... MORE

Russia’s most recent advancements in Electronic Warfare (EW) capabilities (see EDM, September 8; July 19) were again underscored in remarks delivered last month by the chief of the General Staff, Army General Valery Gerasimov (Voenno-Promyshlennyy Kurier, November 14). But in contrast to how dynamically EW... MORE

In late October, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) detained the interior minister’s son, Oleksandr Avakov. Allegedly, he was indicted in a corruption scheme that cost the Ukrainian budget over 14 million hryvnas (about $520,000). The younger Avakov and two other senior officials at... MORE