An explosion in the Dagestani city of Buinaksk today (March 23) killed the imam of the city’s central mosque, Gitinomagomed Abdulgapurov, and his bodyguard, Magomedrasul Magomedov. The blast occurred around 6:00 a.m., local time, as the two were walking down the street. The Rosbalt news... MORE

With very little discussion, the United States and as many as 50 other nations have inaugurated what amounts to a “drone revolution” that will profoundly change our very understanding of the security environment. There can be no doubt that unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, represent... MORE

There has recently been a spate of news stories in Russia about the Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami organization (Party of Liberation). This organization is on the Russian Supreme Court’s official list of terrorist organizations and thus its activities in the country are banned (www.rg.ru/2006/07/28/terror-organizacii.html). An international... MORE

The outgoing president, Dmitry Medvedev, chaired this week a session of the “expanded Collegium of the Defense Ministry” – a gathering of the nation’s entire top brass. Medvedev and Anatoly Serdyukov, Defense Minister since February 2007, both hailed the success of military reform that began... MORE

Update 1 (March 23, 2012 2:00pm) - The Malian Army Captain (name unknown), who appears to be leading the coup d'etat, released a video message stating that President Amadou Toumani Toure is safe and unharmed. Toure's location has not been released. On March 21, 2012... MORE

On March 18, Russia’s Interior Ministry officially confirmed a massive relocation of ministry troops from Chechnya to Dagestan. The official reason given for the movement of the troops was to “stabilize” the situation in Dagestan. A temporary command was set up in Dagestan to coordinate... MORE

In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, the Russian military top brass announced yet another planned innovation for the Armed Forces involving the introduction of sniper units in the “new look” Ground Forces’ brigades. Since the fall of 2011, the defense ministry has intensified its... MORE

In Kabardino-Balkaria today (March 16), three alleged militants were killed in a shootout with law-enforcement personnel. The incident took place at around 6:40 a.m., local time, on the border between the republic’s Baksansky and Prokhladnensky municipal districts. According to Russia’s Anti-Terrorist Committee (NAK), police tried... MORE

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) continues to develop a more complex form of joint operations (“PLA Developing Joint Operations Capability (Part One): Joint Task Force Experimentation,” China Brief, May 20, 2011; “PLA Developing Joint Operations Capability (Part Two): Military Training Coordination Zones,” China Brief, June... MORE

On January 5, 2012, President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta released new defense strategic guidance, highlighting U.S. national defense priorities and underscoring America’s determination to maintain its global leadership and military superiority despite budgetary constraints [1]. The strategy indicates the United States... MORE