Sergei Shoigu, a former long-time emergency situations minister (MChS) and a former Moscow region governor is a well-known and popular figure in Russia—according to recent independent Leveda-Tsentr polls, he is at present more popular than Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Last November, President Vladimir Putin sacked... MORE

Russia and Ukraine are close to reaching an agreement on the clearance of Black Sea Fleet (BSF) vessel movements outside their bases, the Ukrainian website zn.ua reported on March 2, citing sources familiar with the talks. The sources said that Russia no longer objects to... MORE

Moscow’s plans to reform and modernize its conventional Armed Forces have become encased in experiment, indecision, bureaucracy and secrecy. Since Army-General Sergei Shoigu was appointed as the defense minister in November 2012, the “reform” has officially stayed “on course,” while numerous instances of revision or... MORE

Last week (February 27), speaking at a gathering of Russia’s top civilian and military officials led by President Vladimir Putin (the so-called defense ministry “extended collegium”), Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu officially confirmed plans to create a permanent “naval operational division” in the Mediterranean Sea to... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin told the defense ministry collegium on February 27 that the Armed Forces must reach a “new level” of capability within five years, due to the “dynamics of the geopolitical situation.” Putin’s language concerning defense transformation displays a preference for terms such... MORE

In October 2012, most Western analysts of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were surprised when the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Central Military Commission (CMC) appointed General Tian Xiusi—who had served since 1968 as an Army enlisted member and political officer—as the PLA Air Force (PLAAF)... MORE

This article briefly discusses the history of the political commissars (PCs, zhengwei) for the People’s Liberation Army’s Navy (PLAN) and Air Force (PLAAF) since the services were established in 1949, especially during the tumultuous period the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s. The article... MORE

In January, reports surfaced that Laos would borrow money from China to finance a $7 billion, 260-mile rail project connecting the Lao capital of Vientiane to the Chinese border (Ming Pao [Hong Kong], January 15;Global Times, January 10; RFA, December 2, 2012). The project, by... MORE

China’s DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) is no longer merely an aspiration. Beijing has successfully developed, partially tested and deployed in small numbers the world’s first weapons system capable of targeting the last relatively uncontested U.S. airfield in the Asia-Pacific from long-range, land-based mobile launchers.... MORE

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) plans to conduct 40 military exercises this year in order to improve its readiness as well as its ability to fight and win wars, according to the Training Department of the PLA’s General Staff Department (PLA Daily, February 28; Xinhua,... MORE