Trouble on Europe’s Periphery
27MayMembersTrouble on Europe’s Periphery27 May 2015 – 18:00 to 19:00Chatham House, London ParticipantsDr Tracey German, Lecturer, Department of Defence Studies, King’s College LondonSten Rynning, Professor of International Relations, University of Southern DenmarkBill Park, Senior Lecturer, Department of Defence Studies,...
Steppe Eagle- 2015 Exercise Unites CSTO and NATO forces in Kazakhstan
On April 6, the military exercise Steppe Eagle–2015 officially began with an opening ceremony at Kazakhstan’s Ilisky Training Area. Kazakhstan’s Airmobile Forces commander General-Major Daulet Ospanov remarked, “The experience gained by our soldiers is very valuable.” While the United States’ defense attaché to Kazakhstan,...
Russia and Yemen’s Agony
Russia’s position on the fighting in Yemen needs to be understood in terms of its overall approach to the Middle East. And Moscow’s approach to the region has become more confident and strident, as Washington’s has become ever more confused and disjointed. Vitaly Naumkin, a leading Russian analyst, observes that Russia seeks to...
Arms Spending Surges in Ukraine, Baltics; Turkey Slams Pope’s Armenian ‘Genocide’ Mass
Plus, no invite for Putin to G7 summit, and Kaczynski accuses the Polish government of deceit in the Smolensk crash probe. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Spot report by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine: Renewed Intensive Fighting in the Shyrokyne Area, 12 April 2015
Following an SMM-facilitated, three-day period of relative calm, at 18.35hrs on 11 April, the SMM – positioned on the eastern outskirts of government-controlled Berdianske (2km west of “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”)-controlled Shyrokyne) – heard a tank round being fired. It assessed it to have been fired from government-controlled...
Corrupting Civil Society in Post-Maidan Ukraine?
Civil society now plays an outsized role in Ukrainian politics. …read more Source: Carnegie Endowment for International...
Security Service Suspects Moscow Behind Explosions Shaking Ukrainian Cities
Although, for now, the ceasefire agreements reached in February 2015 appear to be mostly holding in eastern Ukraine, nationwide feelings of anxiety and stress persist. This is not only due to the fear that Vladimir Putin may restart the war in May, but also due to the growing challenge of petty terrorism. In various cities across the country,...
Are Russian Military Exercises in the North Caucasus a Signal to Azerbaijan and Georgia?
Russian defense and interior ministry troops have each staged large-scale military exercises, one after another. Military drills take place across Russia practically year-round, but what was interesting about a recent series of exercises is that they were conducted in the mountainous regions of the North Caucasus. Russia’s borders with...
Europe’s Nightmare: Ukraine’s Massive Meltdown
If Ukraine enters a new round of massive instability, it could become a vortex into which Russia and the West will be sucked-with unpredictable and likely dire results. What Ukraine needs today is for the West to lean hard on Kiev in support of economic and political reform. …read more Source: Carnegie Endowment for International...
OSCE trains border officials on protecting human rights in securing borders from terrorism
150626 Complying with human rights standards when countering terrorism at borders was the focus of training organized jointly by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Border Management Staff College (BMSC) from 6 to 10 April 2015 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The training course, bringing together 23 mid- to...
