Latest Articles about Military/Security
Russia’s Defense Industry Creaks Under High-Tech Military Demands
Despite Russia’s defense budget sequestration, ranging from 5 to 10 percent depending on the source, the political-military leadership continues to put a brave face on meeting the expectations generated by its fantastically ambitious rearmament plans to 2020. The Kremlin, no doubt buoyed by the performance... MORE
Trapped Between War and Peace: The Case of Karabakh
Large-scale armed clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops, from April 2 to 5 (see EDM, April 6), drew the international spotlight back to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Karabakh, which has commonly been perceived as “frozen” for over two decades. This armed conflict passed through different... MORE
An In-Depth Portrait of Major Muhammad Eyad Shamsi: Military Strategist for the Syrian Rebel Group Authenticity and Development Front
Nicholas A. Heras There is currently a nascent campaign supported by the U.S.-led multinational anti-Islamic State (IS) Coalition to build a local, Syrian Sunni Arab armed opposition movement against IS in the core areas of its control in eastern Syria (Terrorism Monitor, March 18; MLM... MORE
Love as a Propaganda Machine: A Profile of Islamic State’s Jihadist-Love Culture Propagandist, “Shams”
Halla Diyab The Islamic State’s (IS) construction of a revolutionary jihadist-love culture and its perpetuation of a narrative that stands in deep contrast to the barbaric atrocities of the group demonstrates the organization’s attempts to romanticize the jihadist experience to gain sympathy and support from... MORE
Post-Mortem Analysis: The Last Five Years in the Life of Saddam Loyalist Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
Chantelle Berman He was one of Saddam Hussein’s key advisers and the leader of a militia temporarily tied to the Islamic State (IS). Now he is reportedly dead, reportedly killed in April 2015 in Salahuddin province (Al Arabiya, April 17, 2015). Since 2011, topics of... MORE
Al-Qaeda Top Leader’s Younger Brother, Muhammad Rabee al-Zawahiri, Released
Muhammad Mansour Muhammed Rabee al-Zawahiri, a younger brother of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, was released from Egyptian prison on March 17. A court had acquitted him on October 15 of charges related to forming an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group called “al-Zawahiri cell” in Egypt, as well... MORE
Critics Question Decision of Georgian Minister of Defense to Abolish Conscription
Georgia’s Minister of Defense Tinatin Khidasheli stated, on April 20, that she was prepared to end conscript service and fully transition the country’s army to a professional military force. “The defense ministry of Georgia has already made this decision, and legislative support is required. We... MORE
Islamic State Continues to Gain Influence in Southern Russia
Karachaevo-Cherkessia, a mountainous republic in the northwestern Caucasus, has long been out of the news when it comes to attacks by the armed Islamist underground movement against government forces. Russia’s security services effectively destroyed the Karachay jamaat in 2005–2007 (Agentura.ru, 2007). The Karachay jamaat has... MORE
How Islamic State Gained Ground in India Using Indigenous Militant Networks
A series of arrests this year in India has highlighted how India has been unable to escape its overtures as Islamic State (IS) continues its attempts to expand its geographical and online reach beyond Iraq and Syria. While IS propaganda has so far struck a... MORE
Iraq’s Shia Militias: Helping or Hindering the Fight Against Islamic State?
The rise of Islamic State in Iraq has contributed to the increasing prominence of Iraq’s Shia militias. However, while the militias are united in their desire to defeat IS, there are nonetheless clear divisions among them arising from narrow self-interest, differing ideologies and political loyalties,... MORE