Latest Articles about Military/Security
The Kurdish Periphery
The Kurds play a key role in the war against the Islamic State as they are located on the periphery of the jihadist organization’s two de-facto capitals, Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq. As a result, both Western states and Russia are courting the... MORE
Growing Number of Russian Converts to Islam Joining Insurgents at Home and Abroad
With 28-year-old Anatoly Zemlyanka’s notorious killing of 23-year-old member Magomed Khasiev, ethnic-Russian Muslims are again in the spotlight. Khasiev (a. k. a. Yevgeny Yudin), an ethnic-Russian convert to Islam, came from the Ural region in Russia, while Zemlyanka came from the Siberian town of Noyabrsk.... MORE
Turkey’s Reaction to the War in Syria
Just as in other parts of the world, the Syrian civil war has been discussed deeply in Turkey. Turkish public opinion has different views on the Turkish government’s policies on Syria. For example, in the last election, although Erdogan’s party received 50 percent of the... MORE
Rebel Reaction to Russian Intervention
On September 30, Russia’s military intervention in Syria officially began with airstrikes against Syrian armed opposition forces in western Syria. Since the start of Russia’s military intervention, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its auxiliary forces—such as the National Defense Force (NDF) local militia network,... MORE
Russian Intervention in Syria
Russia launched its intervention in Syria at the end of September 2015, immediately after President Vladimir Putin’s grandiloquent but uninspired speech at the United Nations General Assembly. At first glance, Moscow’s Syrian campaign appears hastily improvised, and it does not seem to reflect sound planning... MORE
China to Build Hongdu Light Attack Aircraft in Ukraine Next Year
When the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) collapsed in December 1991, its integrated military-industrial complex was shattered and split up among 15 newly independent countries. Ukraine received many significant assets, including top-notch fighter and aircraft plants as well as the USSR’s most advanced shipyards... MORE
Putin Challenges NATO Over Turkey
Despite both the ongoing tensions in Ukraine as well as Russia’s out-of-area air campaign in Syria, much of the focus of the Russian political-military elite is currently on Turkey, which Russian propaganda has demonized following the November 24 downing of the Su-24M over the Turkish-Syrian... MORE
Russia Expands Military Presence in Armenia, Deepens Confrontational Rhetoric
The November 24 downing of the Russian Su-24 bomber by the Turkish air force has resulted in a serious deterioration in bilateral relations and the deployment of additional Russian units to Syria (see EDM, November 30, December 3), as well as an upsurge in anti-Turkish... MORE
Russian Intelligence Experiences Setback in Effort to Penetrate Islamic State Network in Syria
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Brennan has estimated that 2,000–3,000 militants from Russia are fighting in Syria (Mk.ru, November 16), half the number given by Russian President Vladimir Putin (Portal-credo.ru, October 16). Syrian President Bashar al-Assad provides an even higher figure: he estimates that... MORE
Russia Hits Syria With More Long-Range Missiles
The Kremlin posted footage of a late-evening meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, on December 8. Shoigu was filmed producing a flight recorder, or so-called “black box,” allegedly from the Russian Su-24M bomber downed, on November 24, by a Turkish F-16... MORE