| Summary/Abstract |
The risk of Russia's involvement in low-intensity military conflicts has been growing since the early 2000s. Instability along many stretches of the border has forced Moscow to increase its military presence in the neighboring areas. Russia has military bases in high conflict risk areas, notably South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Moldova, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Russia can ill afford to take a let-it-drift approach to developments in Afghanistan, Syria, and Ukraine, and is likely to be drawn into a potential confrontation on the Korean Peninsula or in Iran, and in a possible escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.
|