Latest Articles about Military/Security
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Experts Warn Moscow’s North Caucasus Policies Exacerbate Regional Instability
Emil Pain, the well-known Russian expert on ethnic conflict and former Russian government official, has warned that the conflict in the North Caucasus is escalating. According to the Kavkazsky Uzel (Caucasian Knot) website, the number of casualties in the North Caucasus dropped to 199 in... MORE
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Moscow Promotes Airpower and Peacekeeping on Afghanistan-Linked CSTO Agenda (Part One)
Despite the contraction of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)—marked by the collective agreement at its summit in Moscow in December 2012 to interpret Tashkent’s membership “suspension” as a withdrawal—the Kremlin is intensifying its efforts to transform the body ahead of the North Atlantic Treaty... MORE
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Russian Security Services Offer Surprising Revelations About Boston Bombings
On April 27, the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta published an article on the dead Boston bomber suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, based on information it received from the Russian security services. It cited officers of the Dagestani Center for Combating Extremism who said they became aware of... MORE
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Russian Neo-Nazis ‘Celebrate’ Hitler’s Birthday, Part Two: April 20, 2013
Adolf Hitler’s birthday, traditionally a concern for authorities determined to prevent racist violence in Russia (see Part One of this two-part article in EDM, April 15), appears to have passed without much disruption in 2013. At the time of writing, there were relatively few reports... MORE
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The IMU Expansion in Afghanistan’s Takhar Province: Jumping Off Point to Central Asia?
While Helmand and other provinces in southern Afghanistan are the center of the Taliban insurgency and receive most media attention in the West, northern Afghanistan’s Takhar province has also come under increasing Taliban and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) influence since 2010 (taand.com, April 14).... MORE
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Parts of Boston Bombers’ Radicalization Narrative Remain Murky
Since the start of the second Chechen war in the fall of 1999, the Chechen armed resistance has evolved, with poorly educated people from the villages gradually replaced by young people with higher education. This is a kind of protest reaction by youth against the... MORE
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China’s Defense White Paper: A New Conceptual Framework for Security
China organized this year’s defense white paper around the historic missions concept as the principal framework for understanding the mission and activities of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The concept of “core interests,” a key driver of the historic missions, featured prominently in the white... MORE
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The 2013 Defense White Paper in Perspective
After every Chinese Defense white paper is released the first question invariably asked is “What’s new?” The unsatisfying, but accurate, answer is “It depends on what you already know about the Chinese armed forces.” The white papers repeat long-established policy and usually contain some new... MORE
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Kazakhstan Continues to Upgrade its Military Presence on the Caspian in the Face of Growing Uncertainty
In early April, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov told the local press that the legal status of the Caspian Sea was still being debated by the littoral states (Azerbaijan itself as well as Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran), which had already discussed the organization... MORE
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Chechen Authorities Organize Incursion into Ingushetia
On April 18, against the backdrop of the ongoing territorial dispute between Chechnya and Ingushetia, about 300 law enforcement agents from the Chechen Republic entered the village of Arshty in Ingushetia’s Sunzha district. The incursion took the tensions between Ingushetia and Chechnya to a whole... MORE