Limits of Ranking Militaries from Paper Strength

This week, we explored the practicalities of modern warfare. How do we measure military power? Is it possible to fairly compare fighting resources between regions? In this episode, Michael Hilliard from the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs walked us through their latest research, mapping the militaries of Central Asia. Michael was also joined shortly on stage during the talk by Mitchell Polman, an OSINT researcher who helped with the mapping project.

The talk was hosted by Charlotte Maher on Thursday November 6th 2025. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist.

Recorded live in the Bellingcat Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/bellingcat

Links discussed:

PROJECT LINK >> https://oxussociety.org/projects/the-armed-forces-of-central-asia/

UZBEKISTAN CHAPTER DOWNLOAD LINK >> https://oxussociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Armed-Forces-of-Central-Asia-Chapter-IV-Uzbekistan-1-1.pdf

MAPPING PROJECT LINK >> https://oxussociety.org/viz/military-units/map.html

Michael's red line podcast- excellent listening: https://www.theredlinepodcast.com/

And the Oxus Society podcast https://oxussociety.org/publications/podcast/

Purchase higher tier data link: https://oxussociety.org/projects/the-armed-forces-of-central-asia/purchase/

Caucusus and Central Asia Channel in Discord: https://discord.com/channels/709752884257882135/709947054042120222

Michael's previous talk: https://rss.com/podcasts/bellingcatstagetalk/1720167/

Mapping Militia Networks with New America talk: https://rss.com/podcasts/bellingcatstagetalk/2212437/