The visit of US Vice-President, Joseph Biden, to Moscow last week created a resonance quite out of proportion to its agenda. The hard-won ratification of the START III treaty by the US Senate and the “symmetric” process in the Russian Federal Assembly marked a remarkable... MORE

Iran has been steadily increasing its ties with Mongolia and 2010 was a year of increased Iranian overtures toward Ulaanbaatar. In another manifestation of how democratic Mongolia and Iran are looking towards substantially developing their economic ties, in early December 2010, it was announced that... MORE

Over the past month or so, the Russian media have been very actively reporting on the creation of an anti-Wahhabi paramilitary unit operating on the territory of Kabardino-Balkaria in response to the actions of insurgents against members of law enforcement agencies. It has been also... MORE

Statistics on insurgency-related violence in the North Caucasus in February show that most of the violence was concentrated in the republics of Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria. Kavkazsky Uzel reported this week that 59 people were killed as a result of insurgency-related violence in the North Caucasus... MORE

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) made history with the news on February 25 that the frigate Xuzhou, one of the navy’s most modern warships, had been dispatched to waters near Libya to support and protect the evacuation of Chinese citizens. The Libya operation is... MORE

On January 27, a Taiwanese weekly, Next Magazine, reported that the Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy had plans to introduce Russian Kilo-class submarine technology. According to the report, a task force was organized by Taiwan’s National Security Council (NSC) and the Taiwan Navy, which contacted... MORE

On March 4 , Li Zhaoxing, spokesman for the National People’s Congress of the People's Republic of China (PRC), announced a 601 billion yuan (~ $91.5 billion) defense budget, a 12.7 percent increase over the 533 billion yuan (~ $81.3 billion) authorized in 2010 (English.gov.cn,... MORE

The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, which serves as the country's top political advisory body, is meeting in Beijing at the Great Hall of the People. The annual conclave, which is held in conjunction with the National People's Congress (NPC), has no... MORE

Late last week two Iranian warships made the return trip through the Suez Canal after raising a storm of controversy by their transit through the Canal and their visit to a Syrian port in the Mediterranean. Iranian authorities announced the successful completion of the flotilla’s... MORE

Two and a half years into the armistice and fifteen rounds into the Geneva implementation talks (“Georgia & The Geneva Process: A Balance Sheet Since The 2008 War,” EDM, March 10), the Geneva process seems to be leading nowhere.The armistice agreements remain unimplemented in all... MORE