Russia’s deputy prime minister tasked with overseeing the defense industry, Dmitry Rogozon, is also billed as the country’s “space Tsar,” and he is presently turning his attention to large-scale sectorial reorganization to boost the Russian space sector’s competitiveness. On October 9, Rogozin briefed his close... MORE

With the Olympics in Sochi scheduled to start on February 7, 2014, the situation in the North Caucasus is not improving as quickly as the authorities in the Kremlin would like (https://www.sochi2014.com/). The steps the Russian government has taken so far appear to be insufficient... MORE

Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych inspected the Army and Air Force’s performance as commander-in-chief at the Yavoriv military and peacekeeping training center in Lviv oblast on October 1. The website of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense (accessed October 6) reported that the purpose of the year-end... MORE

Police in Kabardino-Balkaria conducted operations against the armed resistance and took preventive measures to foil terrorist attacks in the republic throughout the month of September (https://kabardino-balkaria.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/172027/).At the start of October, a young man was killed in Kabardino-Balkaria’s Baksan district. According to police, he was driving... MORE

Although India is not a party to the South China Sea dispute, in recent years—particularly since Secretary of State Hilary Clinton vigorously advocated freedom of navigation in the South China Sea at the Asian Regional Forum meeting in Hanoi in July 2010, and India endorsed... MORE

A senior executive at Russia’s state arms export company, Rosoboronexport, has said that Russia will sign a contract to sell the advanced Su-35 jet to China in 2014, while confirming that the deal is not on track to be finished in 2013 (RIA Novosti, September... MORE

Numerous institutional factors have driven and incentivized China’s participation in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. Central to executing China’s first instance of protracted Far Seas naval operations has been inter-agency coordination among the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and other military and civil... MORE

With Taiwanese President Ma Ying-Jeou’s approval ratings at record lows­­ following another scandal—one poll held in late September show that only 9.2% of Taiwanese voters approved of his administration­­—it is more likely than ever that the opposition will win the 2014 “seven in one” elections,... MORE

Over the last few months, Mongolia has hosted or taken part in several multi-national military exercises with the aim to develop the Mongolian army’s peacekeeping abilities, as well as a way to leverage military-to-military ties as a tool of diplomacy. On August 10–13, Mongolia held... MORE

On September 20–26, Russia carried out Zapad (“West”) 2013 military exercises with Belarusian forces. Though the training scenario envisioned repulsing an attack on Belarus by “terrorist” forces, Zapad 2013’s territorial scope, breadth of practiced operations, and the number of units and force types involved suggested... MORE