In moves that may prove more consequential than Tehran’s ongoing supply of drones to the Russian army, the Iran Marine Industrial Company is currently repairing a Russian ship that crashed into ice on the Volga River and is joining China in helping Russia to dredge... MORE

The first move to disentangle from an externally imposed, potentially fatal diplomatic process is to change the semantics. Along with this move, the country—Moldova in this case—must assert the priority of its own interests over those who caught it in this trap—namely, Russia and its... MORE

On February 21, Russia suspended its participation in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START Treaty) of 2010, which had been prolonged in January 2021 until 2026 (Kremlin.ru, February 21; Sozd.duma.gov.ru, February 21). At the same time, Moscow claimed that it will continue to... MORE

On January 30, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov commended Pakistan for maintaining a neutral position in the Russo-Ukrainian war and vowed to fully cooperate with Islamabad in meeting its energy needs. Lavrov expressed his views at a joint press conference with his Pakistani counterpart, Bilawal... MORE

As part of efforts to find friends overseas as the Kremlin’s all-out aggression against Ukraine drags on, Moscow’s previously growing efforts to ensconce its influence in Africa have only intensified. The most recent example of Russia’s multi-dimensional campaign in Africa was Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s... MORE

Executive Summary Despite China`s growing presence—especially in the realms of business and trade—in Central Asia, anti-Chinese sentiments and the overall level of suspicion toward Beijing have been on the rise. Frequently, this leads to public protests that sometimes result in instances of violence. To protect... MORE

On February 9, Indonesia announced the elite counter-terrorism force Densus 88 arrested six Jemaa Islamiya (JI) members in South Sumatra, Jakarta, and Cirebon, a city in West Java (thestar.com, February 9). The six-member cell was among the more expansive JI networks found in recent years,... MORE

The southern Thai ethnic Malay Muslim insurgency is comprised of various factions with similar goals, aiming collectively to achieve either autonomy or independence from Thailand and implement Islamic law. However, only one faction has consistently been committed to engaging with the Thai government through ongoing... MORE

On January 5, two officials from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Naveed Sadiq and Nasir Butt, were killed in Punjab’s Khanewal district. The men were involved in counter-terrorism efforts in the region. Both the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and an obscure militant group, Lashkar-e-Khorasan (Army of Khorasan,... MORE

In late December, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced a significant expansion of the Russian Armed Forces that would increase its size from 1.15 million to 1.5 million soldiers. The proposal also includes the establishment of new divisions and the recruitment of an additional 300,000... MORE