In late September 2014, Erlan Karin, the newly appointed director of the Astana-based Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies, presented a report on Central Asians fighting for the Islamic State (IS—formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS) called “Our People in... MORE

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Mustafa Cemilev, the longtime leader of the Crimean Tatar national movement who now serves as the presidential plenipotentiary representative for Crimean Tatar affairs, have been discussing the possibility of creating a Crimean Tatar Battalion within the Ukrainian army. This battalion... MORE

President Vladimir Putin’s order to revise Russia’s 2010 Military Doctrine by the end of this year prompted speculation in the Russian media and raised varying opinions about the revision process’s possible motives and its timing. It appears, according to defense specialists close to the process,... MORE

G20 heads of state and government held their regular summit on November 15–16, in Brisbane, Australia. Within that large group, Western summiteers devoted much of their time to discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Ukraine. This was a follow-up to the same Western leaders’... MORE

After the recent death of another leader of Dagestan’s Aukhov jamaat, the press service of the Dagestani Liberation Front posted a video recording of the address of the emir of the Northern Sector, Islam Abu Ibragim (a. k. a. Islam Ibragimov). The leader of Dagestan’s... MORE

TO READ PART ONE, CLICK HERE. Russian diplomacy has created its own terminology, complete with fine semantic nuances, to disguise the nature of Russia’s conflict undertaking in Ukraine and promote an incremental legitimization of Russia’s proxies there. Misleading terms such as “the Ukraine conflict,” “crisis in... MORE

The wobbly ceasefire in Donbas (region of eastern Ukraine, encompassing Luhansk and Donetsk provinces), undermined by constant shelling and fighting, seems to be on the verge of total collapse. Both sides (Ukrainian government and Russia-backed rebels) blame each other; the West blames Moscow and Moscow... MORE

Since initiating organizational reform in the Armed Forces in 2008, Moscow’s political-military leadership has not placed building a professional military anywhere near the top of its agenda. Indecision on the issue gave way to a compromise: a force mix of 12-month serving conscripts and contract... MORE

By meeting with the leaders of the pro-Moscow Moldovan Socialist Party last week (November 4) (kremlin.ru, November 5), Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent the kind of signal to the Gagauz that they have been waiting for. And therefore, according to Dmitry Konstantinov, Moldova’s Gagauz... MORE

The armistice agreements, signed on September 5 and 19–20, remain basically unimplemented on the Russian side, politically and militarily. Russia’s proxy forces have “de-escalated” their attacks on Ukrainian positions, but continue attacking at a lower level of intensity, inflicting Ukrainian casualties. Russia itself is far... MORE