Latest Articles about Military/Security
Putin’s New Praetorian Guard
This week (April 6), without prior warning or any meaningful public debate, President Vladimir Putin announced a massive overhaul of security, public order and law enforcement in Russia by creating a special new internal army. Formed immediately by presidential order (ukaz), the new “National Guard”... MORE
Azerbaijan’s War of Attrition: A New Strategy to Resolve the Karabakh Conflict?
The escalation of tensions between Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces along the line of contact (LOC) saw the outbreak of a five-day exchange of fire, the bloodiest since the 1994 ceasefire agreement. The latest clashes ended with a mutually agreed ceasefire on April 5. According... MORE
Untangling Plans for Russia’s Military Force Structure
Russia’s Ground Forces are moving away from the brigade-based structure of the “New Look” reforms to form divisions in the western strategic direction. This involves the formation of three divisions in western Russia, with two being constituted in the Western Military District (MD) and one... MORE
Nuclear Security and Arms Control Are Non-Issues for Russia
Russia’s absence from the nuclear summit in Washington, DC, last week was entirely predictable and yet baffling. Moscow announced its non-participation last November, and Secretary of State John Kerry was unable, in recent lengthy talks, to persuade President Vladimir Putin to make a trip to... MORE
Latvia Strives to Modernize Its Command and Control
In order to boost the role of the National Guard within the national defense system and to continue to develop its structures, Latvia’s Defense Minister Raimonds Bergmanis recently ordered the commander of the National Armed Forces, Raimonds Graube, to transform the current National Guard regional... MORE
Libya’s Political Turmoil Allows Islamic State to Thrive
Islamic State (IS) has experienced fits and starts in its efforts to expand beyond Syria and Iraq. As IS has tried to gain a foothold in new countries, it has encountered violent opposition from both state and non-state actors. In Algeria, state security forces decapitated... MORE
Resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan’s North
Fighting in northern Afghanistan has continued throughout the end of 2015 and start of 2016, culminating in the temporary fall of the strategically important city of Kunduz. The capture of Kunduz, which came much to the shock of the Afghan government and the international community,... MORE
Finland Raises Terror Alert as Jihadist Scene Grows More Complex
Finland elevated its terrorism threat assessment for the second time in 18 months in November of 2015. According to the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (FSIS) the terrorist threat against Finland is increasingly complex—and while the threat of “structured attacks by terrorist organizations” remains low by... MORE
Libya’s Muslim Brotherhood and the Struggle for Post-Revolutionary Libya: A Profile of Shaykh Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi
Andrew McGregor The rise to power of Mu’ammar Qaddafi (1969-2011) in Libya led to major changes in the observation of Islam in a deeply conservative Sunni Muslim North African nation. While establishing Shari’a as the basis of Libyan legislation, Qaddafi sought to disrupt the dominant... MORE
Boko Haram’s Foreign Fighters in Libya
Jacob Zenn The Libyan uprising that broke out in 2011 was followed by a civil war that has lasted five years. During this time, the Islamic State has set up three “provinces” in Libya, although al-Qaeda and other rebel groups have maintained a strong presence... MORE