Latest Articles about Military/Security
Taliban Exploit Shi’a-Sunni Divide in Pakistan’s Kurram Tribal Agency
Kurram Tribal Agency in northwest Pakistan continues to be a flashpoint of violence created by the volatile sectarian strife between Shi’a and Sunnis and the gradually strengthening hold of the Taliban in the area. Kurram Agency, the only Shi’a majority tribal agency in Pakistan, has... MORE
Chinese Defense Expenditures: Implications for Naval Modernization
The extent and nature of Chinese defense spending can serve as the parameters for the future course of China’s military power and China’s intentions as it continues military modernization. Recent scholarship on China’s defense spending concludes that its military budgets have been understated in official... MORE
Taiwan’s Navy: Able to Deny Command of the Sea?
The first installment of this series on the Republic of China Navy (ROCN), or Taiwan Navy, presented a skeptical assessment of the ROCN’s ability to fulfill the expansive requirements set forth in its “ROC Navy Vision” (Xin shiji haijun), which in essence directs the navy... MORE
Karzai’s State Visit Highlights Beijing’s Afghan Priorities
From March 23 to March 25, Afghan President Hamid Karzai conducted a state visit to China. The trip underscored the People's Republic of China's (PRC) support for the Karzai-led government, with the Afghan president telling his hosts that Sino-Afghanistan relations were better than at any... MORE
Implications of Kyrgyzstan Revolt on China’s Xinjiang Policy
As the political crisis in Kyrgyzstan reaches a turning point, after opposition forces seized the capital Bishkek in a bloody clash and ousted the president and his allies, Chinese leaders from regions across China have reportedly descended upon Xinjiang en masse in a rare spectacle... MORE
Soldiers and Policeman Killed and Wounded in Chechnya
Chechnya today (April 16) is marking the first anniversary of the end of the counter-terrorism operation in the republic with what it is calling a Day of Peace –a series of government-organized celebrations and festivities including concerts, sports events, a cross-country automobile/motorcycle race and even,... MORE
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