Latest Articles about Military/Security
China’s Persian Gulf Strategy: Israel and a Nuclearizing Iran 2009
On September 15, a task force co-chaired by Senator Charles Robb (D-VA) and Senator Daniel Coats (R-IN) at the Bipartisan Policy Center released a report [1], calling on President Barack Obama to devise a tougher strategy to prevent a nuclear Iran. The subtitle of the... MORE
Turkish-PKK Peace Settlement Draws Nearer
Since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government first revealed its Kurdish initiative in cooperation with the other state institutions, including the military and the National Intelligence Service (MIT), many doubted whether it would prove successful. While the opposition parties were arguing against the Kurdish... MORE
Russian Defense Ministry Reorganizes Information Services
On October 1 the Russian defense ministry abolished all the former information structures throughout the armed forces, including within the military districts. Consequently, the press service and information directorate of the defense ministry has emerged as a revamped version of the directorate for information and... MORE
FSB Assigned Control Over Operations in Chechnya and the North Caucasus
Events in Chechnya have once again grabbed the headlines this week. Most notable among them was the review of activities for the years of 2003 through 2008 undertaken at an enlarged session of the Operations Headquarters for Chechnya and the North Caucasus, chaired by Russian... MORE
Violence and Political Turmoil Link South and North Ossetia
On October 13, the investigative committee of the Russian prosecutor-general’s office announced that a criminal group had been uncovered, which had carried out a number of high-profile killings in North Ossetia in 2007-2008. The victims included both the acting and a former mayor of Vladikavkaz... MORE
Rebels and Police Killed and Wounded in North Caucasus Violence
Fighting between security forces and militants continued in Chechnya and Ingushetia this week, with dead and wounded reported on both sides.A police official in Chechnya reported today (October 16) that a militant was killed in a shootout in the village of Eshelkhatoi in Chechnya’s southeastern... MORE
Postponed Military Exercise Tests Turkish-Israeli Cooperation
Turkish-Israeli relations face a new test over Ankara's decision to change the format of a joint international military exercise to a national exercise. Following some Israeli officials' charges that the move was based on political motivations, the Turkish side called on Tel Aviv to behave... MORE
Turkish Political Actors Reassess Their Stance on the Kurdish Initiative
Since the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s announcement in August concerning the implementation of measures to resolve the Kurdish question, the debate over the government’s Kurdish initiative has intensified (EDM, August 14, 21, September 10, 21). One of the major criticisms of the Justice... MORE
Negotiations on the Transnistria Conflict in a Deep Freeze
Authorities in Tiraspol are watching the political deadlock in Chisinau with barely concealed satisfaction. Moldova’s political and constitutional crisis since April has further deepened the freeze on both tracks of negotiations on the Transnistria conflict: the international 5+2 format and the bilateral right bank –... MORE
An Azeri Jamaat or a Jamaat in Azerbaijan?
One of the trends surfacing in news reports about the North Caucasus insurgency this year is the presence of Azeri fighters within the rebel ranks. Chechnya’s president Ramzan Kadyrov also pointed a finger at Azerbaijan in a recent interview, claiming: “Most of the ammunition warehouses... MORE