A Duma roundtable in November 2013 on the leadership of Russia’s Armed Forces since the dismissal of Anatoly Serdyukov as defense minister in November 2012 offered broad support for his replacement (see Part One, EDM, January 21). While supportive of the current minister of defense,... MORE

With weeks to go before the opening of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, US and Russian media reported that female suicide bombers might be targeting the upcoming event. The police reportedly visited hotels and distributed leaflets with a description of the potential suicide bombers,... MORE

UPDATE (1/31/14): According to state media, the Yutu lunar rover suffered a “mechanical control abnormality" and failed to complete preparations for its second lunar night, which began January 25th (Xinhua, January 25).  This means that it will likely lose all functionality during the -292 degree Fahrenheit... MORE

On January 1, new fishing regulations for the South China Sea, issued by the province of Hainan, went into effect, prompting objections from China’s territorial rivals in Southeast Asia, as well as the United States and Japan (Xinhua, January 10). Chinese spokespeople have sought to... MORE

The situation in Syria has not changed significantly in the past month, but the same cannot be said about the Chechens who are fighting there. Indeed, the Chechen groups in Syria have evidently radicalized and split into different factions because of the dispute between al-Nusra... MORE

The eastern Mediterranean, which has seen an intermittent Russian naval presence for more than two centuries, will again see Russian military assets deployed there as a new Russian-Cypriot agreement takes effect. On January 10, Cyprus’s Council of Ministers approved a defense ministry draft proposal for... MORE

In the aftermath of the Russian holiday season and its familiar linkage to Ded Moroz (Father Frost), naive beliefs appear seasonably appropriate. Since the appointment of Russia’s defense minister, Army-General Sergei Shoigu, in November 2012, opinion polls continue to confirm him as one of the... MORE

On January 14, an expert report on the current situation and future evolution of the North Caucasus was released in Moscow. The report scathingly criticizes Russian government policies in the region and describes region as being in a state of ongoing crisis. Unlike many other... MORE

On November 29 of last year, Hainan’s legislature approved revised measures (banfa) for implementing the PRC Fisheries Law. Unlike earlier provincial fisheries regulations, the new measures single out “foreigners and foreign fishing vessels” as requiring special permission to operate within Hainan’s jurisdiction, effective January 1... MORE

Dagestan’s Khasavyurt district has a long border with Chechnya. Moreover, a significant number of ethnic Chechens ended up in Dagestan after their territory was handed over to Dagestan in 1922 (https://megabook.ru/article/%D0%90%D0%9A%D0%9A%D0%98%D0%9D%D0%A6%D0%AB). After the influx of Chechen refugees during the first Russian-Chechen war, the overall number... MORE