Latest Articles about Military/Security
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Rising Anti-China Sentiment in Balochistan Threatens Increased Attacks on Chinese Interests in Pakistan
Executive Summary The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militant group in Pakistan opposes Chinese investment projects in Balochistan province, viewing China as complicit in Pakistani government oppression of their people. The BLA has carried out multiple attacks against Chinese nationals and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) installations... MORE
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Beijing Grows Assertive as Chinese Private Military Companies ‘Come Out of the Shadows’
For more than a decade, China has been using its own private military companies (PMCs) to guard Chinese facilities abroad, preferring to use them rather than rely on protection from local firms or PMCs from other countries. On occasion, Beijing will employ PMCs to put... MORE
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The New Year Brings Greater Censorship and Repression in Russia
In December 2023, independent journalists and human rights activists prepared a prognosis of what awaits Russia in the near future. According to participants in the “Network Freedoms” project, Russian citizens should expect total censorship on the Internet. The Russian authorities will begin to recognize popular... MORE
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Lavrov Asserts Russian Success Among ‘Global Majority’
On December 28, 2023, Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti conducted a comprehensive interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (Ministry of International Affairs of the Russian Federation (MID), December 28, 2023). The ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the broader context of global politics have... MORE
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Russia Enters Third Year of War Diminished, Degraded, and Joyless
On the night of December 29, 2023, Russia conducted a series of massive missile strikes on Ukrainian cities. This operation was meant to add weight to President Vladimir Putin’s confident and unwavering words in a series of public events that concluded the year. It produced... MORE
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Taiwan’s Offshore Islands: Assessments Of Support For Integration
Kinmen County (金门县) and Lienchiang County (连江县; also referred to as Matsu (马祖)) are a crucial site of activity for cross-Strait relations. Over the last year, Beijing has renewed its calls for using the islands to promote “cross-Strait integrated development (两岸融合发展)” (Taiwan Affairs Office, September... MORE
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Xi’s New Year’s Speech Dismisses Difficulties
On New Year’s Eve, a prerecorded address from Chinese President Xi Jinping was broadcast across the Party’s global network of official media outlets (Youtube, December 31, 2023). The speech is an annual tradition, delivered from behind a wooden desk in rhetoric that is at once... MORE
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Mohammad Bazzi: West Africa-Based Hezbollah Money Launderer Arrested and Extradited
Executive Summary Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi is a prominent Hezbollah financier who operated money laundering schemes across Europe, West Africa, and the Middle East. He was arrested in Romania in February 2023 and subsequently extradited to the United States. The arrest of Bazzi and several other... MORE
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Mikhail ‘Pitbull’ Turkanov: The Rise of Russian Soccer Hooligan Unit ‘Española’ in Ukraine
Executive Summary Mikhail "Pitbull" Turkanov is a prominent commander in the Española volunteer brigade, a former MMA fighter, and a Zenit Football Club hooligan with tattoos that include neo-Nazi imagery. Charismatic propaganda figures like Turkanov are able to appeal to highly nationalistic soccer hooligans who... MORE
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Abdul Bari: Mastermind Behind ISKP’s Massacre of Hazara Shias Finally Arrested
Immediately after the fall of Mosul in June 2014 and the subsequent declaration of a “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria, Islamic State (IS) reached out to Islamist terrorist networks, cultivated contacts, and developed franchises in South Asia and Afghanistan. IS’s caliph, Abubakar al-Baghdadi, demanded all... MORE