Violent attacks continued in the North Caucasus this past week, as security forces claimed some successes against insurgents against the backdrop of an overall spike in violence in the region.In Chechnya, two servicemen were wounded in attacks by militants in the republic's Urus-Martan district on... MORE

In a clear break with its former pattern in producing praporshchiki (sergeants) for the army, the Russian defense ministry has begun forming a professional non-commissioned officer (NCO) corps, which will consist of specialists with almost three years of training at a new facility. Controversially, these... MORE

A German-ordered, U.S.-executed air strike, which killed scores of Afghan villagers on September 4, has caused a political uproar in Germany in the run-up to the September 27 parliamentary elections. The two governing parties are engaged in competitive damage-control. The event underscores the limitations and... MORE

Since Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed that his government is working on a plan to address the Kurdish question, the debate has dominated Turkish politics. It is uncommon for Turkish politics to be dominated by a single issue over a long period, however, the... MORE

Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev has instructed the government to form a State Commission on Preparations for Kazakhstan's Chairmanship of the OSCE. Personally chairing an enlarged inter-departmental meeting on this subject, Nazarbayev described Kazakhstan's chairmanship of the OSCE in 2010 as a "national strategic project." The... MORE

According to independent sources, several additional Russian army units are headed to the special-operations zone where the insurgency in Ingushetia has mounted relentless strikes (www.ingushetia.ru, August 14). As these troops arrive in the area with five Grad missile launchers and several armored personnel carriers, it... MORE

The Sri Lankan government’s delay in resettling nearly 300,000 internally displaced ethnic Tamils and failure to address the Tamils’ core grievances have led to concerns that these issues might lead to a reversal in the strategic gains made since May’s military defeat and decapitation of... MORE

Officials in Afghanistan see the killing of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mahsud as a great victory for his opponents and say his death may result in the breakup of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) organization. The loss of the TTP leader comes as Pakistani jet fighters... MORE

In what might be described as Syria from a jihadist perspective, an article entitled “Al-Qaeda al-Sulbah” (the Solid Base) was posted to the jihadi website al-Faloja.com on July 21 by active al-Faloja contributor Abu Fadil al-Madi. The article urges Salafi-Jihadis to reconsider the importance of... MORE

Last Thursday was Dagestan's deadliest day in recent years. While all three North Caucasus republics of Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan reported deadly clashes between insurgents and police forces that day, the latter claimed most of the casualties.In the Dagestani city of Buinaksk, at approximately 8:00... MORE