The term rare earths (RE) apply to a group of 17 chemically similar metal elements that include scandium, yttrium and the fifteen lanthanides. RE elements are considered strategically important commodities that are used to manufacture defense and commercial high value-added applications, especially green technology. Rare... MORE

On November 4, mass protests occurred in Chechnya. Workers with the state construction firm Spetsstroi stayed off the job after not having been paid for four months, and went back to work only after they were promised that they would soon receive their back pay.... MORE

The National Security Council (NSC) is an apparatus for the top executive to “formulate, coordinate and oversee security and defense policy” in order to “enhance effectiveness by developing strategies, guidance, mobilizing resources and overseeing implementation” [1]. Conceptually, the NSC in Taiwan, as in the United... MORE

Underneath the fanfare that greeted the FBI’s arrest of ten Russian intelligence officers in June, federal authorities quietly proceeded against a young Michigan man, Glenn Duffie Shriver, applying to the CIA at the direction of Chinese intelligence. The story missed major media outlets and was... MORE

On October 9, the Chinese media announced the start of a multi-region, joint air-land exercise called Mission Action 2010 (shiming xingdong 2010). People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ground force units from three of the seven Military Regions (MR) were deployed by road, rail and air across... MORE

In spite of an apparent thaw in overt cross-Strait tensions since Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou was elected into office in 2008, the shadow war between Chinese and Taiwanese intelligence agencies has continue unabated. While Beijing and Taipei have made remarkable progress in liberalizing economic barriers,... MORE

After months of deliberations, on November 3, the US Defense Department (DoD) renewed its collaboration with Mina Corp Ltd., which has supplied jet fuel to the US Transit Center Manas in Bishkek for the past six years (https://www.defense.gov//News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=61543). A one year $315 million contract allows... MORE

Investigators in Kabardino-Balkaria said today (November 5) that two hunters found dead yesterday (November 4) may have died at the hands of members of “illegal armed formations.” The bodies of two residents of the city of Nalchik –69-year-old Vycheslav Kiriloyuk and 64-year-old Valdislav Revazov– were... MORE

The al-Qaeda affiliated Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) has released a statement claiming the October 31 hostage-taking at Baghdad’s Sayidat al-Nejat (Our Lady of Salvation) Syriac Catholic Church was carried out in order to free two Egyptian Coptic women they allege are being held prisoner... MORE

Only a few days after the U.S. army ended its combat mission in Iraq came the declaration of a split within one of the most prominent insurgent groups, al-Jaysh al-Islami fi’l-Iraq (Islamic Army in Iraq - IAI). A group of IAI field fighters, calling themselves... MORE