Latest Articles about Military/Security
Hostages for Trading: An Innovation of Putin’s Kremlin in Ukraine
On May 3, Russia’s proxy forces in Ukraine’s city of Slovyansk released from captivity the military observers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The German-led group of eight unarmed officers (four Germans and one each from Sweden, Denmark, Poland and the... MORE
Russia Convinces ‘Caspian Five’ to Bar Foreign Militaries From the Caspian
Russia’s March 17 annexation of Crimea dramatically shifted the Black Sea’s naval balance of power, as Russia appropriated most of the Ukrainian navy’s vessels and equipment, and absorbed Sevastopol. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United States made some symbolic remonstrations by sending... MORE
Moscow Turns to Cossacks to Staunch the Exodus of Ethnic Russians From the North Caucasus
The Cossack issue has become relevant in Russia against the backdrop of the outflow of ethnic Russians from the North Caucasus (https://expert.ru/ratings/izmenenie-doli-russkih-v-naselenii-respublik-severnogo-kavkaza/). Chechnya and Ingushetia have practically become ethnically homogeneous and Dagestan will soon become the next republic to shed its ethnic Russian population entirely... MORE
Nicaragua: Moscow’s ‘Second Front’
If focused exclusively on Russian actions in Ukraine or other areas contiguous to Russia, one loses sight of major elements of Moscow’s foreign policy. The Russian Federation considers itself to be a global power that is active everywhere and that, whatever Russia’s leadership might publicly... MORE
Georgia Offers Compromise to NATO Prior to the Alliance’s Summit in Wales
At a joint conference with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Maia Panjikidze, the foreign ministers of Germany and France, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Laurent Fabius, respectively, stated that the European Union was prepared to sign the Association Agreement with Georgia as early as this... MORE
What Is Motivating Dushanbe’s Campaign Against the IRPT?
In the past few months, the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) has faced increasing pressure from the government in Dushanbe. On April 14, the head of the IRPT in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO), Saodatshoh Adolatov, was arrested by security forces in Vanj district... MORE
Moscow Closes Okhotsk Sea to Outsiders
In a move that both exacerbates international conflicts in the Western Pacific and suggests how Moscow plans to proceed in the Arctic, Russian President Vladimir Putin has closed to all outside shipping and fishing the entire Sea of Okhotsk—some 52,000 square kilometers of water that... MORE
The Kremlin’s Strategy on Ukraine and Conflict De-Escalation
As the Kremlin maintains measures designed to maximize pressure on the interim government in Kyiv, it also has to handle the risks of conflict escalation. A number of signs of increased tensions between both states include the “off-and-on” anti-terrorist operations in southeastern Ukraine, Russia’s renewed... MORE
As Geneva Fails, Violence Escalates and Russian Troops Are on the Move
The agreement to de-escalate the Ukraine crisis, signed at a meeting last week in Geneva by top foreign policy executives of Russia, the United States, the European Union and Ukraine, failed to decrease tensions and prevent further escalation (see EDM, April 17). The armed pro-Russian... MORE
Mongolia Hosts Brief Visit From US Defense Secretary
The last stop of US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on his ten-day trip to Hawaii and Asia was to landlocked Mongolia. His short visit on April 10 featured charming photo-ops of his unique gift from the Mongolian government—a buff-colored horse that he named “Shamrock.”... MORE