The Dagestan Days festival opens in Baku this week (May 12–13), during which ties between that republic in the Russian North Caucasus and Azerbaijan will be celebrated and new business deals announced (Azertag.az, May 7). However, relations between these two Muslim republics are increasingly tense.... MORE

Russia’s air operations in support of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), which commenced on September 30, 2015, continue to experience modification and experimentation despite President Vladimir Putin’s order to begin withdrawing military forces in mid-March. Efforts to bring a meaningful ceasefire to Syria’s civil war... MORE

During the first half of this month (May 2–19), Estonia is hosting one of the largest military exercises in its post-Soviet history—“Spring Storm 2016” (Delfi, May 2). These war games are being carried out in the three Estonian counties that border Russia: Tartu, Põlva and... MORE

Tanks rumbled through Moscow over the past week before rolling across Red Square today (May 9) in the traditional, extravagant military parade marking Victory Day. Unlike in 2015 (which marked the round 70th anniversary of the end of World War II), there were no notable... MORE

Russian media coverage of the Islamic State (IS) continues to expand. Earlier, the Russian press primarily covered the Caucasus Emirate, Hizb ut-Tahrir and other Islamic movements. Now, all Islam-related themes are marked with the label “Islamic State.” No reliable data is available on how many... MORE

The Republic of Adygea is located in the middle of the northwestern Caucasus, in the watershed of the Kuban, Laba and Belaya rivers. Although historically the area was the homeland of many Circassian tribes, wars and the forced deportation during the 19th century have resulted... MORE

The Azerbaijani-Armenian confrontation over Azerbaijan’s breakaway territory of Karabakh has been simmering for years. The 1994 ceasefire was broken time and again, soldiers on both sides were killed year after year, and all attempts to find a political solution to the conflict ended in deadlock;... MORE

Many observers have concluded that Moscow’s new $2 billion aid package to Belarus is part of a deal to allow Russia to establish a military airbase on the territory of its western neighbor. But it is increasingly clear that Belarus has no intention of allowing... MORE

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

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