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

In October 2008, two months after Russia’s invasion of Georgia, a diplomatic process was launched in Geneva to implement the armistice agreements signed on August 12 and September 8 that year. Two and a half years later, the fifteenth round of negotiations concluded in Geneva... MORE

US Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Moscow has been planned primarily as a promotion of business ties and Western support for President Dmitry Medvedev’s announced modernization efforts. “We see the vice president’s trip as trying to expand into new dimensions of reset with a... MORE