Eurasia

Abstract: The key mission of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) is to defend the Iranian Islamic Revolution and create armed militias in the countries of its “Axis of Resistance.” Its organization is opaque and complex, coordinating combat operations with soft-power actions aimed at, among other initiatives, establishing …

Abstract: Despite dominating the headlines for almost a decade, surprisingly little is known about the Islamic State’s internal organization. After the declaration of the caliphate in June 2014, the organization’s center of gravity rested in the offices of the caliph and the spokesman and the Delegated Committee. Yet, with the …

Les médias occidentaux ont finalement changé de cap. Ils admettent à présent que la contre-offensive ukrainienne tant vantée a échoué. En fait, ils reconnaissent qu’elle n’a jamais eu la moindre chance de l’emporter. The Hill, le Washington Post et CNN s’accordent désormais à dire que l’armée ukrainienne n’atteindra jamais ses …

A powerful state was threatening to protect its compatriots over the border by intervening in the neighboring country. The neighbor had a well-equipped army but could not have beaten back the powerful state all by itself. The world stood on the brink of another world war. But thanks to the …

The Pentagon will provide Ukraine with $200 million in weapons and ammunition to help sustain Kyiv’s counteroffensive as troops on the front lines face significant hurdles against a well-entrenched Russian defense, according to two US officials. This latest package will include missiles for the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and …

Elsewhere, Czechs finally have law to protect whistleblowers; Poland adopts amended version of a panel to investigate ‘Russian influence’; and Slovaks don’t want the next government to help Ukraine militarily.US-Hungarian relations were in the news this week. After Washington imposed sanctions on four top Bosnian Serb officials for undermining a …

Hungary’s government is hopeful its presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2024 will be an opportunity to end its isolation within the EU, and has for the first time established a Ministry of EU Affairs to help manage the process. The countdown has begun. …

Even as the risk of provocation rises, locals on Poland’s border with Belarus are trying to remain calm. What worries them more than the proximity of Wagner mercenaries is an overreaction by a state that’s had its vulnerability to hybrid threats exposed. Two years into the migration crisis and tensions …

Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan are leading conduits for the evading of Western sanctions against Russia. Armenia’s current assistance to Russia builds on its three-decade experience in being an intermediary assisting Iran to evade Western sanctions. Armenia’s military, political and trade relationship with Iran has existed since the early 1990s …

U.S. and Iraqi defense leaders discussed an enduring strategic relationship between the two nations during talks at the Pentagon. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III welcomed Iraqi Defense Minister Thabit Muhammad Al-Abassi for a discussion on U.S.-Iraq joint security cooperation dialogue Monday. This U.S.-Iraq bilateral engagement looks beyond the …