Ukraine Crisis 2022: A Polish Perspective

02/14/2022
By Robert Czulda Despite numerous alarmist tones, average Ukrainians do not panic – shops are open and people gather at restaurants and pubs. Ukrainian security expert Yevgeniya Gaber, whom I interviewed recently for the Polish media, said that there are no signs of any chaos and the Ukrainian intelligence community…

A Nordic Perspective on the 2022 Ukraine Crisis: A Discussion with Hans Tino Hansen

02/13/2022
By Robbin Laird I have had the opportunity over the years to visit what I refer as the defense arc from the UK through the Nordics to the Balts to Poland. The CEO of Risk Intelligence, Hans Tino Hansen, has been a key guide to thinking through the process of…

Indonesia Deepens French Defense Industrial Cooperation: Rafales Displace Su-35 Buy

02/10/2022
By Pierre Tran Paris - Indonesia ordered on Feb. 10, 2022, 42 Dassault Aviation Rafale fighter jets and missiles in a package worth $8.1 billion, with delivery of a first batch of six units in 2025, a French defense official said. “The chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation, Eric Trappier,…

Franco-German Defense Industrial Cooperation: A Strategic Failure or Necessity?

02/07/2022
By Pierre Tran Paris - France would do well to discard Germany as a military and industrial partner and strike out on its own, Vauban, an anonymous group of defense specialists, said Jan. 24 in La Tribune, a French business news website. “Three years after the signature of the Aix le…

RAAF Deploys Wedgetail to Red Flag 22-1: The USAF the Next Wedgetail Customer?

02/03/2022
By Robbin Laird I have followed the progress of the Wedgetail since my first visits to Australia starting in 2014. This was a unique Australian capability which took time to shape and to integrate into their evolving fifth generation concepts of operations. But they have done so and are further…

The AUKMIN Sydney Meeting: January 2022

02/01/2022
By Peter Jennings The immediate significance of the recent AUKMIN gathering in Sydney (January 21, 2022) was that it took place while a Russian military assault on Ukraine is imminent. Given the threat from Moscow, no one would have been surprised had the UK foreign and defence secretaries delayed their…

Is it Time for the U.S. to Engage with the Taliban?

01/30/2022
By James Durso Afghanistan’s Taliban recently proposed it take a role in aid distribution via the creation of a joint mechanism with international aid organizations to coordinate the distribution of food aid to the country. According to the Taliban, "The goal of this committee is coordination on a higher level…