Latest Articles about Military/Security
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Is the Caucasus Emirate Encroaching on the Volga Region?
On January 30, a conference on the influence of the Caucasus Emirate in the Volga region took place in Kazan (https://scienceport.ru/). Participants in the conference discussed issues related to the religious influence of the Northern Caucasus on the indigenous Muslim population of the Volga Region... MORE
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Taking Kashmir to the Brink: Provocations and Insecurity Along the Line of Control
Since the beginning of the New Year, fears of a dangerous border conflict have returned to haunt India and Pakistan as a spate of ceasefire violations and terrorist incursions continue to take place at the Line of Control (LoC) border between Indian and Pakistani-held Kashmir.... MORE
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IMU Crackdown Reveals Regional Dynamics in Tajikistan’s Ferghana Valley
In January, security forces in Tajikistan arrested several suspected members of The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) in Tajikistan’s northern Sughd province (BBC Tajiki, January 28). On January 14, police in Konibodom district pulled over a vehicle for a routine traffic stop. But the driver... MORE
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The Shift in Geopolitical Balance of Power in South Caucasus is Underway
On January 17, during his visit to Armenia, Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili stated that “Armenia provides a good example for Georgia, and it can be a source of envy in a positive sense,” for managing to have good relations with Russia and at the... MORE
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Ukraine’s Security Forces: Bloated, Incompetent and Still Neo-Soviet
More than 20 years after independence, Ukraine’s security forces are over-manned, incompetent and largely remain neo-Soviet in their operating culture. On January 18, the prosecutor’s office accused former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko of being in league with Pavlo Lazarenko (prime minister in 1996–1997) for the... MORE
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The Mistral Saga Takes a New Turn
It is becoming clear that there will be major reversals in key elements of Russian defense policy as a result of the fall of Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov in November 2012. It is also equally clear that the real struggle is over what Serdyukov called... MORE
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Putin Considers New ‘Defense Plan’ as ‘Reform’ Dies
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is considering signing into law a new “defense plan,” setting out in a comprehensive document the long-term threat assessment and strategic environment facing Russia over the next few decades. It will mark an effort on a grand scale to re-conceptualize Russian... MORE
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Lithuania’s Role in the Northern Distribution Network
Located at the geographic center of Europe, Lithuania is ideally situated to become a regional transportation hub. Two strategic transportation lines cross Lithuania: the North-South highway and railway line connecting Scandinavia with Central Europe, and the East-West Transport Corridor between enormous eastern markets and the... MORE
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Manila Ups the Ante in the South China Sea
In a surprise move on January 22, the Philippine government informed the Chinese embassy in Manila that it unilaterally would submit the two countries’ overlapping jurisdictional claims in the South China Sea to international legal arbitration at the United Nations (UN). Manila’s audacious move is... MORE
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New Police Chief Shows Reliability But Not Power
Following the Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu’s ascent to chair the Central Political-Legal Affairs Committee and the Politburo of the 18th Central Committee, a little-known provincial party secretary, Guo Shengkun, stepped up to take over Meng’s place at the ministry in late December (Xinhua,... MORE