In an apparent sudden about-face, the Kremlin has accused the Islamic State (IS) of planting a bomb onboard Russian Metrojet Flight 9268, which disintegrated in midair after takeoff from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, on October 31, killing all 224 people on board,... MORE

On November 9, Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov traveled to Armenia. The visit was agreed upon shortly before. The next day, President Vladimir Putin ordered the government of Russia to start negotiations with Armenia on establishing a joint regional air defense system (Pravo.gov.ru,... MORE

Note: This piece is based on a longer article published in The Washington Quarterly (Fall 2015, available here). Beginning after the global financial crisis in 2008, and transforming further with Xi Jinping’s ascent to power in 2012, Chinese security policy has undergone a remarkable shift... MORE

Since announcing the establishment of the caliphate in June 2014, the Islamic State has broadcast its successes in expanding into new territories outside of Syria and Iraq, aiming to create the perception that it is growing rapidly throughout the Muslim world, and steadily chipping away... MORE

After seven months of military operations in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners are facing a counter-offensive by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The Houthis—who refer to themselves as Ansar Allah—and allied units of the Yemeni Army launched a three-pronged offensive designed to broadly encircle Yemen’s... MORE

After the French-led military intervention in northern Mali in 2013, the leading jihadist groups there, including al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), its affiliate Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA) and its local “front group” Ansar Dine, dispersed from the towns they... MORE

On October 31, government forces killed the leader of the Ingush jamaat, Beslan Makhauri, better known as Amir Muhammad. Makhauri was killed along with another insurgent, named Ilyas Vedzizhev, in the central market of the city of Nazran (Interfax, October 31). One strange thing about... MORE

President Vladimir Putin spent this past week vacationing in Sochi, just as this southwestern Russian coastal city was hit by an autumn storm and heavy rain. Russian government officials were forced to struggle to reach Sochi despite local flash floods because the president likes to... MORE

Russia’s air operations in Syria have triggered speculation concerning Moscow’s objectives, the length of the campaign, as well as the levels of planning involved. On the one hand, Russia’s information campaign describes a limited engagement, which boosts domestic support for the intervention. The Kremlin fears... MORE

On October 22, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the creation of a new Russian military base in the Arctic. This base will be located either on the Novosibirsk Islands or on Franz Joseph Land, and it will allow for 150 troops to live continuously on... MORE