President Mikheil Saakashvili's announcement on March 4, reshuffling the leadership of Georgia's armed forces has caused widespread surprise. Colonel Vladimir Chachibaia, Chief of the Joint Staff resigned, after holding the post since only November 2008, with General Devi Chankotadze appointed as his replacement (Inter Press... MORE

Reports about armed encounters have been streaming in from Dagestan for the past week. For three days, the Russian army jointly with the Federal Security Service (FSB) and Dagestan’s Interior Ministry carried out a military operation aimed at eliminating a group of militants in the... MORE

Discussions over the replacement of the current NATO secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, scheduled to step down on July 31, has intensified, ahead of the Alliance's April 3-4 Summit. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, supported by key European allies, has emerged as the... MORE

President Dmitry Medvedev chaired a Security Council meeting this week in the Kremlin, with Russia's de facto ruler, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, present, to consider a specific publicly stated agenda: the approval of the draft text of a new "National Security Strategy of the Russian... MORE

On March 17 Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev addressed a session of the Ministry of Defense board in order to outline a large-scale rearmament program which will commence in 2011, designed to give the Russian armed forces a "new look" Medvedev used the occasion to pointedly... MORE

Since 2000 the Russian defense budget has grown manifold, as did the country's oil wealth. Last fall a three-year (2009-2011) budget was approved that envisaged hikes in defense spending (see EDM, September 18). Soon after, a radical military reform plan was approved to drastically cut... MORE

China is very dependent on international shipping for its economic development. Any changes to world shipping routes will have a direct impact on China’s economy and potential trade with respect to both imports and exports. The Arctic Ocean is in a state of rapid flux... MORE

China was the first country to establish diplomatic relations with the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste—more commonly referred to as East Timor—when it gained formal independence on May 20, 2002 (China Brief, July 5, 2006). Since that time China has expanded its economic interests in East... MORE

As the United States prepares to increase its military deployment in Afghanistan, attention is being devoted to the question of supply routes for these and other coalition forces. The U.S. European Command (EUCOM) held a conference in Baku on March 9 and 10 aimed at... MORE

It is early springtime and in the mountain passes separating Georgia from Russia, there is snowfall one day and wet snow or rain the next. Avalanches and mudslides caused by wet snow regularly close down the only road connecting Russia and the breakaway region of... MORE