This year holds major domestic preoccupations for Chinese leaders. Heading the list are preparations for the 18th Chinese Communist Party Congress later this year and the following National Peoples Congress in early 2013. To ensure a smooth transition that will sustain the unity and legitimacy... MORE

In 2012, most analysis of Chinese military developments probably will focus on the senior-level leadership changes expected to take place in the Central Military Commission (CMC) and new military equipment. To be sure, these issues are important, but in order to judge the degree of... MORE

This set of essays takes China Brief away from current events, looking ahead at some of the key questions facing analysts in the coming year. The authors—Dennis Blasko, Bruce Gilley, Willy Lam, and Robert Sutter—highlight some of the dynamic tensions at work in China and... MORE

In Dagestan today (January 20), three alleged militants were killed in a shootout with security forces in the republic’s Khasavyurt district. According to the Anti-Terrorist Committee, two of the slain suspects were identified as 25-year-old twin brothers Sabit and Said Akaev, who, according to the... MORE

The Kavkazsky Uzel (Caucasian Knot) website has published the statistics for casualties in the North Caucasus in 2011. The figures, compiled using open sources, allow us to draw a range of interesting conclusions. First of all, it is peculiar that the number of those wounded... MORE

As Turkey struggles to avert crises involving its neighbors Syria and Iran, Iraq has emerged as yet another issue that needs immediate attention from Turkish diplomacy. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s recent remarks critical of what he considered to be Ankara’s “interference” in Iraqi internal... MORE

On December 29, 2011, 41-year old Yerik Ayazbayev, the leader of a Jund al-Khilafah (JaK – Army of the Caliphate) cell based in the Almaty suburb of Boraldai Village, was killed in the Southern Kazakhstan city of Kyzylorda (Interfax [Astana], December 30). Five of his... MORE

Lieutenant-General Vladimir Shamanov, the commander of the elite Russian airborne forces (Vozdushno Desantnye Voyska – VDV), turns 55 on February 15, 2012. The significance of his forthcoming birthday, the retirement age for an officer of his rank, prompted speculation in the Russian media concerning his... MORE

On December 20, 2011, members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) reached an agreement that makes it impossible for any individual country in the group to host a foreign military base on its territory without the full consent of all other members of the... MORE

In an interview published on December 27, 2011, the chairman of the Circassian organization Khase, Ibragim Yaganov, scathingly criticized the Russian government for its policies in Kabardino-Balkaria. Yaganov, who is based in Kabardino-Balkaria, is a well-known public figure among Circassians. In an interview with the... MORE