Security & Conflict
Atlas Triumphant – Russian Nuclear Capability Today
Although the Cold War is over, and now the most prevalent threats to national security are conventional and asymmetric in nature, nuclear weapons will...
Taking a Stand: Foreign Militaries in the Caspian
It has been almost one year since the IV Caspian Summit in Astrakhan, Russia, where the presidents of the five Caspian states signed a...
Radioactive: Illicit Materials-trafficking across the Greater Caspian
The global impact of transnational crime has risen to unprecedented levels. Criminal groups have appropriated new technologies, adapted horizontal network structures that are difficult...
Social Media Terrorism: DAESH’s New Caucasian Province
The militant group Islamic State (DAESH) has filled power vacuums from Syria to Iraq. As its advances struggle forward due to increasing external resistance,...
A Perfect Cyber Storm: Russia and China Teaming Together
United States intelligence agencies have listed cyber-attacks as the top threat to American national security, ahead of terrorism. These threats are increasing in sophistication,...
THE FSB and SIGINT: Absolute Power at Home and Abroad
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) should easily be considered one of the most influential and powerful intelligence organizations in the world today. Its...
China and Russia: Cyber Cousins but not Cyber Brothers
There seems to be a strong divergence in perception behind China's desire to command cyberspace offensively. On the one hand, there is the assumption...
Wars of Aggression as Cultural Events
The International Community has been witnessing in the recent months a dramatic upsurge in the exploitation of cultural heritage, be it its destruction or...
All Eyes on Me: The Emergence of a Russian Surveillance State
Before analyzing the activities and assessing the ethics of any intelligence organization, it is first necessary to remember that intelligence organizations are secretive by...
The Pluto of International Organizations: The Evolution of the SCO
This piece investigates the unique peculiarities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Instead of being a Eurasian counterpart to the EU, an additional IO...