On October 16, the Israeli Air Force launched a precision attack, in the Damascus area, against a Russian-supplied S-200 air-defense battery under the control of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). The aerial raid was conducted partly in response to a March incident involving its aircraft... MORE

President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a decree, on September 29, adopting Kazakhstan’s new Military Doctrine. The document outlines key priorities in military security for the Central Asian republic (Zakon.kz, September 29; Nomad.su, October 9). Interestingly, the doctrine itself received almost no public attention inside Kazakhstan. Several... MORE

When Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was welcomed in Moscow, on October 5–8, both Russian and Saudi media sources rushed to call his visit an important milestone in bilateral relations (TASS, October 8). But with the initial euphoria from Salman’s trip to... MORE

The annual meeting of the Valdai discussion club provides a unique opportunity for many Western experts to “meet” with President Vladimir Putin. This year, the Kremlin sought to build up expectations by divulging that Putin was working on a draft of a particularly important speech... MORE

The South Caucasus republic of Georgia is struggling with a plague of brown marmorated stink bugs (BMSB), or Halyomorpha halys. Originally native to East Asia, the BMSB is an agricultural pest that can cause widespread damage to fruit and vegetable crops, particularly when present in... MORE

Vladimir Putin’s centralization of power in Moscow over the last 18 years reflects his belief, and that of many others’, that the disintegration of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)—which he has termed “the largest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century” (Kremlin.ru, April 25,... MORE

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that his country’s military operation in Syria is “close to conclusion” (see EDM, October 17). The Islamic State—once a sizable quasi-state, stretching from the outskirts of Iraqi Bagdad to Aleppo, in Syria—has lost control of all major cities, including... MORE

The Georgian seaport city of Batumi hosted the eleventh annual Georgia Defense and Security Conference (GDSC), on October 12. The event was attended by Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili, Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Parliamentary Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze, as well as a number of high-ranking government officials,... MORE

Preliminary results of the presidential elections held in Kyrgyzstan, on October 15, announced by the Central Election Committee, may come as a surprise to observers who followed pre-election developments (see EDM, September 27). In a resounding victory, Sooronbay Zheenbekov, the ruling Social Democratic Party candidate,... MORE

Rather unexpectedly, Kaliningrad oblast—Russia’s westernmost, physically detached region on the Baltic coast—experienced a surge in inter-ethnic tensions arising from discrimination directed at the local Islamic community. On September 19, a Kaliningrad court opened a legal case initiated by the local Muslim community, which is suing... MORE