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

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

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

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

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

January brought unexpected news from Chechnya. In the course of a six-day military operation against the militants in the republic’s Vedeno district, government forces killed 11 militants and captured one (www.rbc.ru/fnews.open/20130124152140.shtml). The government forces also suffered losses—two servicemen died and seven were wounded in fighting... MORE

A CIA Predator or Reaper drone killed the powerful South Waziristani Taliban leader Mullah Nazir and five to seven of his top deputies on the night of January 2 near Angor Adda, South Waziristan. The incident is a contentious start to the 2013 drone campaign... MORE

Inspired by the Arab Spring, the Salafi-Jihadists of Jordan have taken to the streets for the first time and have been holding demonstrations in several cities, including Amman, Ma’an, Salt, Irbid and Zarqa, to demand the release of their imprisoned colleagues and the implementation of... MORE

Already unstable relations between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan worsened this week. Violence had erupted in early January 2013 in the Uzbekistani enclave of Sokh located inside Kyrgyzstan that resulted in property damage and hostages being taking. Since January 7, Bishkek continues to block access to Uzbekistan’s... MORE

On January 15–16, President Vladimir Putin held talks in Moscow with Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sekh Hasina. As a result of these discussions, Russia has pledged to lend Bangladesh $1 billion to buy weapons, $500 million to construct the country’s first nuclear plant, as well as... MORE