2014-04-29 In a piece published on Eurasianet.org, Joshuya Kucerna published a piece looking at the opportunities and challenges for the Russians in expanding their Black Sea Fleet. (Excerpts) Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled his intent to expand the country's Black Sea Fleet now that the previous restrictions to its size…
2014-04-28 by Harald Malmgren The hesitant, cautious, incremental responses of US policy towards Russia with regard to developments in Syria, Iran, and now Ukraine, and further Russian threats to Transniestria and other Russian “neighbors” is generating rethinking in Asian capitals. Notably, China’s PLA is ramping up its aggressive rhetoric about…
2014-04-28 by Robbin Laird With the breakup of the Soviet Union, a key challenge was the nuclear weapons on the territories of the former Soviet territories, which were now sovereign states. For Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, determining what do with Soviet weapons and how to address their role in the…
2014-04-27 With Afghan operations drawing down, it is important to remember how challenging the Afghan enivornment is and the impact of that operational environment has been on US and allied military equipment. A recent photo from Camp Bastion is a good reminder of the demanding Afghan environment. [caption id="attachment_64851" align="alignnone"…
2014-04-26 For those of us who remember Russian history, kto kvo was Lenin’s famous quote about political struggle. The question of who benefits is a foundation for any political maneuvering, not short term “tough” policy stances. We published a piece earlier on the challenge of imposing sanctions on the Russians…
04/25/2014: F-16 pilots with the 419th and 388th Fighter Wings from Hill Air Force Base, Utah conducted air-to-air combat training alongside the F-35 Lightning II at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. This is the first time Hill F-16 pilots have trained along side the fifth generation F-35. Hill AFB was…
2014-04-25 by Robbin Laird The Russians have been map-making in Crimea. With the Ukraine in play, close observers of Russian behavior are taking their measure of what such behavior might mean elsewhere. Clearly, an area of note is the Baltics. With Putin’s emphasis on Russian ethnic solidarity trumping international borders,…
2014-04-25 by defenceWeb Last year South African soldiers deployed in the DRC as part of MONUSCO came under fire from rebel groups they speedily resorted to social media to let family and friends know they were safe. This is one of the myriad uses of social media, which an SA…
