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29 May 12. Research and Markets announced the addition of the “Kazakhstan and Central Asia Defence and Security Report Q3 2012” report to their offering. The five major Central Asian Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have commenced a subtle, yet important, realignment of their security policies. This is occurring against the backdrop of the large-scale withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan in circa 2014/15. The withdrawal of these forces, which is expected to commence from 2014, could have serious security implications for all five of these nations. All five nations are on the frontline as regards the export of Islamic extremism, terrorism and narcotics from Afghanistan which could increase following the US and NATO withdrawal. For the previous decade, the Central Asian Republics have benefited from a relative stabilisation of their internal security situation, and the security situation on their borders with Afghanistan (with the exception of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, neither of which shares a border with Afghanistan) since military operations commenced in Afghanistan in 2001. Despite all of the Central Asian republics being largely Muslim countries, their political leaderships have been highly concerned about the export of Islamic extremism into their societies. This is in addition to security concerns regarding the trafficking of narcotics and weapons into these countries. In a worst case scenario, a potential security vacuum emerging in the wake of a US and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan could pre-empt all these scenarios becoming a reality in a desperately poor region of Asia, which can ill afford a descent into civil war, strife and social disintegration. All five countries are not alone in perceiving the threat to their respective territories in the wake of the US and NATO withdrawal. Russia is similarly concerned. For Moscow, Central Asia remains firmly within its sphere of influence with Russia seeing the Central Asian Republics as its ‘vulnerable soft underbelly’ lacking the security and stability of its western and eastern borders. Like the Republics, Moscow greatly fears the export of violence and illegal activity from any worsening of the security situation in Afghanistan. To this end, Russia is increasing its security assistance to Central Asia. Not only is this intended to ensure that these countries can meet any threat, but may also be an attempt to draw them more firmly into Moscow’s sphere of influence once the US departs from Central Asia. (Source: Yahoo!/BUSINESS WIRE)

28 May 12. Research and Markets announced the addition of iCD Research’s new report “The Vietnamese Defense Industry: Market Opportunities and Entry Strategies, Analyses and Forecasts to 2016” to their offering. This report is the result of extensive market and company research covering the Vietnamese defense industry. It provides detailed analysis of both historic and forecast defense industry values including key growth stimulators, analysis of the leading companies in the industry, and key news. Vietnam is one of the world’s fastest-growing defense markets and is expected to spend US$16bn on its armed forces during the forecast period. As a result of years of underfunding in the Vietnamese defense budget, the country’s armed forces are expected to undergo an extensive modernization program. This, coupled with economic recovery, is expected to increase Vietnam’s defense expenditure by 2016. (Source: Yahoo!/BUSINESS WIRE)

30 May 12. The Czech Defense Industry: Market Opportunities and Entry Strategies. The Czech defense expenditure declined at a CAGR of -3.88% during the review period to US$2.41bn in 2011. The country’s military expenditure is estimated to register a CAGR of 1.33% during the forecast period, to value US$2.54bn in 2016. Defense expend