Latest Articles about Military/Security

Cyber Transparency for Thee, But Not For Me
In Beijing, a reminder for Hagel that the U.S. and China face divergent incentives on cyber policy U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s latest trip to Beijing represented a new milestone in Sino-U.S. military-to-military information-sharing. According to media reports, the U.S. side laid out in detail the... MORE

Signs of Inter-Ethnic Conflict Reappear in Disputed Border Area of North Ossetia
Tensions have recently spiked not in the Republic of Ingushetia itself, but in the border area of neighboring North Ossetia, which is populated by ethnic Ingush. Residents of the village of Maiskoe rose up in protest after the law enforcement agencies of North Ossetia–Alania arrested... MORE

Pro-Russia Paramilitaries Seize Ground in Eastern Ukraine Ahead of International Negotiations
Pro-Russia armed groups fanned out during April 11–14 across Donetsk oblast, capturing the seats of authority in town after town: Slovyansk, Kramatorsk, Makiyivka, Mariupol, Horlivka, Khartsyzk, Yenakiyeve, Zhdanivka, and several others. This is a conflict coordinated from Moscow, designed to create faits accomplis on the... MORE

If War Comes Tomorrow: Putin’s Gamble in Eastern Ukraine
Russian, Ukrainian and Western media, commentators and officials offer conflicting interpretations of Russia’s military “buildup” along Ukraine’s eastern border. The reality of the size and composition of those forces is fiercely disputed. A near war of words has erupted between Moscow and the North Atlantic... MORE

Ukrainians Replace North Caucasians as the Universal Villains in Russia
The Russian invasion of Crimea and the tensions with the West that followed it have created a new public climate in Russia with regard to the North Caucasus. “Today, when Russia has found itself practically on the verge of war with its closest neighbor, all... MORE

Can Ashgabat Reconcile Kabul With the Taliban?
The government of Turkmenistan has begun mobilizing the country’s army reservists and has sent them to the border with Afghanistan. At least a few dozen reservists were deployed to the town of Serhetabad, (formerly known as Kushka) on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan border. The border situation worsened... MORE

Georgia Is Reeling After President Obama’s NATO Statement
Statements and declarations about Georgia made by Western countries and especially the United States carry big weight in Tbilisi. Every one of them is read, re-read, analyzed, and scrutinized by Georgian politicians, experts and ordinary citizens alike. US President Barack Obama’s March 26 statement in... MORE

Rebels Continue to Operate in Chechnya Despite Doku Umarov’s Death
Following the news of Doku Umarov’s death and the elevation of a new leader of the North Caucasian armed underground, experts have started to debate whether this will bring changes in the tactics of the insurgents.The replacement of Umarov, whose death was announced only in... MORE

Southeastern Ukraine Unrest and Domestic Politics
The Ukrainian authorities’ initial response to the unrest in the country’s southeastern regions was a mixed one: Pro-Russian protesters were able to seize the regional administration buildings in Donetsk and Kharkiv as well as the Security Service (SBU) offices in Donetsk and Luhansk on April... MORE

Russia Builds Leverage Ahead of Ukraine’s Presidential Election
Moscow seems to be preparing the atmosphere for a possible military intervention in Ukraine’s eastern regions. Russia could, if it deemed expedient, intervene there with troops in some form or other, as it has just done in Crimea. But, more likely, Moscow would leverage the... MORE