Latest Articles about Military/Security
Russia’s Coming War with Georgia
Six months after the French-brokered agreement ended the Russo-Georgia war on August 12, 2008 the ceasefire continues to be fragile with constant incidents that both sides describe as "provocations." Last month the Defense Ministry of the separatist South Ossetia said Georgia was moving troops towards... MORE
Russia’s Arms Sales to Sudan a First Step in Return to Africa: Part One
Flush with petrodollars and beset by regional insurgencies and a possible resumption of the North-South civil war, Khartoum has become an important consumer of foreign arms despite a widely ignored international embargo. The Sudanese military is embarking on a massive modernization campaign and appears to... MORE
Tashkent and Dushanbe Cautious on CSTO Forces
The announcement in Moscow on February 4, 2009 to activate the CSTO Collective Rapid Deployment Forces and transform them into a more viable, well equipped force structure akin to NATO's rapid reaction force concept masked underlying tensions within the CSTO. These relate to legal issues... MORE
Ankara Carefully Monitors French Plans to Rejoin NATO’s Military Command
Determined to bring Paris into NATO's military command after four decades of opting out, French President Nicholas Sarkozy is expected to announce France's return to NATO's military structures by April, when a NATO summit will mark the 60th anniversary of the Western alliance. Recent reports... MORE
The CSTO: Missions, Capabilities, Political Ambitions
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which adopted decisions to develop Collective Rapid Response Forces at a summit in Moscow on February 4 (see EDM, February 5), owes its existence to Russia's ambition to cast itself as the leader of a political-military bloc on the... MORE
Russia and Kyrgyzstan Playing for High Stakes in Manas
The closure of the strategically important U.S. Manas air base in Bishkek, announced following Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's visit to Moscow for bilateral talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, met with disbelief in the West. Kyrgyz Security Council Secretary Adakhan Madumarov briefing journalists in Moscow... MORE
CSTO Summit: Rapid Deployment Forces Advance at a Snail’s Pace
The Presidents of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan held a session of the Collective Security Council-the top political decision-making body of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)-on February 4 in Moscow, where they signed an agreement on further developing the CSTO's Collective... MORE
A CSTO Rapid-Reaction Force Created as a NATO Counterweight
On February 4 the presidents of the Russian-dominated, seven-member Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) gathered in Moscow to sign an agreement to create a joint rapid-reaction force. In recent years Moscow has done its best to transform the CSTO--a loose alliance that has served mostly... MORE
China’s 2008 Defense White Paper: The View from Taiwan
Beijing published the 2008 edition of "China’s National Defense" (hereafter White Paper) on the cusp of U.S. President Barack Obama's historic inauguration on January 20th. The past three editions (2002, 2004, and 2006) of the White Paper were all published in the final month of... MORE
Moscow Eyes Stronger Partnership with Tashkent
Despite some recent setbacks, the Kremlin has intensified efforts to expand its relations with Uzbekistan, Central Asia's most populous nation. Following talks in Tashkent, Uzbek President Islom Karimov praised the bilateral summit meetings on January 22 and 23, which served to clarify important issues of... MORE