Since Russia’s military operation in Syria commenced in September 2015, a number of features indicated a degree of experimentation with advanced weapons and hardware. These have promoted speculation that Moscow is trying to develop such systems as part of its alleged hybrid warfare capability or,... MORE

On April 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree establishing a new federal security service, the Russian National Guard, which largely inherits the troops from the Ministry of Interior. The director of the new federal service has the status of a Russian government minister... MORE

Leonid Tibilov, the de facto leader of the separatist Georgian province of South Ossetia, (Tskhinvali region), declared, on April 11, that his government is planning to hold a referendum about whether to join the Russian Federation. The vote will be held before August of this... MORE

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud appears intent on shaking off the perceived lethargy of the Saudi royals in international efforts to combat terrorism, forming a 35-nation anti-terrorism coalition. The coalition has been promoted by Muhammad bin Salman, Salman’s son and the Saudi Defense... MORE

Militants attacked a multi-storied government building in Pampore in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in February, leading to a three-day standoff with security forces (Indian Express, February 22; Kashmir Reader, February 23). While the incident was notable as one of the... MORE

The outbreak of clashes along the line of contact in the separatist region of Karabakh, which began early in the morning on April 2 and lasted until April 5, was the most dangerous since the 1994 ceasefire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The number of... MORE

The so-called Islamic State (IS) is increasingly infiltrating Russia, threatening its security (Lenta.ru, June 24, 2015). It has been less than one year since the IS claimed to have a “province” in the North Caucasus (Polit.ru, June 24, 2015), and now the organization claims to... MORE

On March 14, President Vladimir Putin surprised both friend and foe by announcing that the Russian military mission in Syria was “mostly accomplished” and ordering the withdrawal of “most of our forces” (Kremlin.ru, March 14; see EDM, March 17, 21). A month later, it became... MORE

On the night of April 2, the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact around the separatist region of Karabakh erupted in the worst violence for two decades until a tenuous ceasefire ended hostilities three days later. What is notable about the brief violent conflict is that both... MORE

On April 5, President Vladimir Putin ordered the creation of a new National Guard, marking a sweeping transformation in Russia’s security structures (see EDM, April 7, 11). Intermittently discussed since the 1990s, the reform of these structures was long overdue and clearly tasked with improving... MORE