Stephen Blank
Wednesday, June 29, 2016 - 06:37
By invading Ukraine and annexing Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin has transformed the security situation in the Black Sea. Upon capturing those territories, Moscow lost no time in seizing Ukrainian energy facilities in the Black Sea and accelerating its ongoing military modernization there. As a result, Moscow has built a combined arms force of land, sea, air, and electronic forces that NATO leaders admit is fully capable of denying access to NATO forces seeking to enter the Black Sea during a conflict. It has also deployed nuclear-capable weapons to the Black Sea area and is apparently building a similar network of anti-access area denial (A2/AD) capabilities against NATO in both the eastern Mediterranean around Syria and in the Caucasus.
Monday, January 12, 2015 - 06:57
Russian language abroad is a point in Russia’s 2009 national security strategy, Moscow is apparently steadily if somewhat unobtrusively failing to achieve its goals. And this testifies to a continuing failure to actualize Russia’s soft power despite an enormous state investment.
Thursday, October 9, 2014 - 09:52
Russo-Chinese relations possess immense importance for world politics and Asian international relatoins in particular, with the most critical zones of this relationship being Northeast and Central Asia.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014 - 11:21
But if Kazakhstan can develop an indigenous capability for high-tech weapons that will enable it to undercut Russian arms sales in Central Asia, which are a prime factor in preserving Russia’s strong position there.
Monday, August 5, 2013 - 07:03
Russo-Chinese relations possess immense importance for world politics and Asian international relations in particular, with the most critical zones of this relationship being Northeast and Central Asia.