Latest Articles about Military/Security
NATO’s Steadfast Jazz 2013 Exercise: One Step Toward Fully Credible Common Defense in the Baltic Region
Steadfast Jazz 2013, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) exercise just held in the three Baltic States and Poland (see accompanying article), marks the start of rebalancing the Alliance’s missions: from an disproportionate concentration on distant, low-intensity though resource-absorbing, and politically ineffective wars (epitomized by... MORE
NATO Holds Article Five Exercise in the Baltic Region
On November 2–November 9, the NATO Response Force (NRF) conducted the Steadfast Jazz 2013 troop exercise in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, combined with the Baltic Host logistical exercise in the latter three Baltic States. The hosting countries had been awaiting exercises of this type... MORE
Chinese Party Meeting Calls for Establishing ‘National Security Council’
The leaders of the Chinese Communist Party have resolved to establish a national security council (guojia anquan weiyuanhui) in order to “perfect the national security system and strategy, and guarantee national security” (Xinhua, November 12). The call, buried in the final communiqué of the Third... MORE
Moscow Strives to Break the Resistance of Dagestani Militants
Militants in Dagestan have been extensively targeting judges in the republic, killing four so far this year. On January 15, Dagestani Supreme Court judge Magomed Magomedov was killed in Makhachkala. On March 9, federal judge Akhmed Rajabov was killed near his home in Izberbash. On... MORE
Russian Strategic Bombers Touch Down in Latin America
Two Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers have flown from their permanent base in Engels airbase in the Saratov oblast on the Volga River to Venezuela on October 28. From Venezuela, the bombers patrolled the Caribbean and also landed in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. From Managua,... MORE
China-Japan Relations Worsen as Chinese Naval Aviation Flies Through “First Island Chain”
China's relationship with Japan took a turn for the worse this past week, with a number of incidents and statements increasing tensions over the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku islands. On October 27th, a formation of H-6 bombers and Y-8 surveillance aircraft passed the disputed area on their... MORE
Hot Issue: Libya in Anarchy Two Years After Western Intervention
Executive SummaryTwo years ago, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s assassination by Western-backed rebels (October 20, 2011) marked the end of all-out civil war and the collapse of the state in Libya. The United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) based their case for... MORE
Ukraine’s Military Reform Marred by ‘Generals Scandal’
On October 14, President Viktor Yanukovych launched the advanced stage of Ukraine’s military reform by issuing a decree canceling the compulsory draft to the armed forces in 2014 (https://dt.ua/UKRAINE/v-ukrayini-skasovano-obov-yazkoviy-prizov-na-strokovu-sluzhbu-v-armiyu-130046_.html). However, Yanukovych’s announcement nearly coincided with a scandal involving three top Ukrainian generals in the General... MORE
Shoigu Opts for Mystical Defense Plans (Part Two)
Russia’s defense minister, Army-General Sergei Shoigu, has served in office for one year and has scaled back or halted some of the reform initiatives of his predecessor, Anatoly Serdyukov. Yet, an underestimated aspect to Shoigu’s leadership relates to an increased level of secrecy around defense... MORE
Tiananmen Attack: Global, Local or Both
On October 23, in Beijing, a driver crashed his Jeep into a gate in Tiananmen Square, setting off an explosion that killed two foreign tourists, the driver and his two passengers, who were his wife and mother. It also injured 40 other people. Within one... MORE