Turkey has been busy debating the recent initiative of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi - AKP) to end the long conflict between Turkish security forces and the Kurdistan Workers Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan – PKK). On November 12, Turkish Interior Minister... MORE

Pakistan’s recent “Rah-e-Nijat” (Path to Salvation) military operation in the South Waziristan agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) has achieved tremendous success since it began on October 17. It is believed that security forces should be able to clear the main towns of... MORE

For a few days in mid-November, it looked like the Chinese government was prepared to take the unprecedented step to lead a multinational security operation involving the armed forces of Russia, the United States, the EU, and other countries. Following the seizure of yet another... MORE

On November 23 the helicopter carrier Mistral, pride of the French Navy, laid anchor at St. Petersburg on a week-long visit with political, strategic, and commercial overtones (Interfax, November 23-27). The French government wants to sell one or, better, several vessels of this class to... MORE

On November 27, the Nevsky Express, a train that shuttles between Moscow and St. Petersburg, derailed, killing 25 people. Over 90 people received injuries of varying degree of gravity, and one of them later died, raising the death toll in the crash to 26. Two... MORE

The Mistral-class helicopter carrier, several of which France offers to sell and license to Russia, is the most modern French warship class. At 24,000 tons it is second only to the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in size. The first Mistral-class warship entered service in... MORE

On November 23 the helicopter carrier Mistral, pride of the French Navy, laid anchor at St. Petersburg on a week-long visit with political, strategic, and commercial overtones (Interfax, November 23-27). The French government wants to sell one or, better, several vessels of this class to... MORE

A spokesman for the Investigative Committee of the Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office, Vladimir Markin, announced today (December 1) that a blast on the Tyumen-Baku railway line in Dagestan yesterday (November 30) was a terrorist act. That blast, which investigators said equaled 300 grams of TNT, slightly... MORE

On November 24 and 25 two Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers flew long range patrolling missions above neutral waters in the Arctic to the Atlantic Oceans. Russian Air Force spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Vladimir Drik said that during the 16 hour missions that featured mid-air refueling from Il-78... MORE

The resounding speech made by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in his annual address to the country’s parliament had no impact whatsoever on the situation in the North Caucasus (www.kremlin.ru, November 12). While local officials are left guessing who will become the Kremlin’s man in charge... MORE