Latest Articles about Military/Security
Caspian Littoral States Struggle to Forge Settlement
Russia has opted to support disarmament in the strategically important Caspian region, which is known to hold vast oil and gas resources. However, negotiations on the Caspian settlement continue as the littoral states apparently struggle to agree on crucial security and economic issues. Moscow “supports... MORE
Moscow Opens the Prospect of an Iranian Arms Embargo
After the signing of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-3) in the Czech capital Prague with President, Barack Obama, last week, Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Washington for the two-day Nuclear Security Summit in a buoyant mood. Speaking in an often humorous tone at the... MORE
Russia is Open for Nuclear Business in Asia
Although other issues have taken center stage recently, it is possible to discern in Moscow’s policies across Asia a renewed emphasis on the sale of nuclear reactors to interested Asian partners. This emphasis, of course, is not new. During 2007-2008 Moscow offered nuclear reactors to... MORE
Theories Behind Moscow Metro Attacks Abound
On April 11, the Dagestani branch of the Federal Security Service (FSB) declared it was fighting a group of Islamist insurgents led by Magomedali Vagabov in the Karabudakhkent district of Dagestan (Interfax, April 11). Mariam Sharipova, who is thought to have been one of the... MORE
Mistral Case Presages Russian Shopping Spree for Western Military Technology: Part Two
Two latest developments in the Mistral affair have changed the terms of the debate and, by the same token, made it difficult to preclude a NATO discussion on this issue by using its agenda-setting powers of high office.The first development is Moscow’s declared condition that... MORE
Bombings in Moscow and the North Caucasus Strengthen the Siloviki
The shock of the double terrorist attack in Moscow metro on March 29 is subsiding, however the follow-up suicide explosions in Dagestan and Ingushetia confirm that the North Caucasus is not going through just another upsurge of instability but is engulfed by a local civil... MORE
Mistral Debate Unavoidable in NATO: Part One
The view that NATO has no business discussing French arms deals with Russia is far from being a consensus position. The proposed sale of French Mistral-class warships –an offensive power-projection capability– to Russia is testing the laissez-faire approach to arms sales by NATO countries to... MORE
Mass Arrests of al-Qaeda Suspects in Saudi Arabia Illustrate Security Threat from Yemen
The Interior Ministry of Saudi Arabia released a statement announcing the arrest of 113 persons “constituting a network and two cells” tied to al-Qaeda on March 24. The network was comprised of 101 individuals, including 47 Saudi nationals, 51 Yemenis, a Somali, a Bangladeshi and... MORE
Taliban Spokesman Discusses U.S. Media and Military Strategies in Afghanistan
Many jihadi internet forums have circulated a recent special interview with the official spokesman of the so-called Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Qari Muhammad Yusuf al-Ahmadi. The interview was conducted for the March-April issue of al-Somod Islamic e-magazine, an official Taliban publication. In the interview, the... MORE
Attacks Reported in Ingushetia, Dagestan, Chechnya and Kabardino-Balkaria
Violence has continued in the North Caucasus over the past week in the wake of the March 29 bombings in the Moscow metro, which killed 40 people and were reportedly carried out by two female suicide bombers from Dagestan, and a March 31 suicide bombing... MORE