Russian-ROK Economic Ties

11/18/2012
2012-11-18 By Richard Weitz Even with the persistent security tensions, economic cooperation between Russia and South Korea has increased dramatically during the past decade. The commerce involves primarily the exchange of Russian oil and gas in return for ROK machinery and equipment. The South Korean military also purchases some Russian defense…

First F-35 Lightning lands at MCAS Yuma

11/17/2012
11/16/12  by James Gilbert, Yuma Sun In what was history in the making, the first F-35 Lightning II, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter, landed at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma on Friday afternoon. Marine pilot Maj. Aric Liberman arrived at the air station at approximately 1 p.m., having…

Russia and DPRK Proliferation Issues: Goals and Strategy

11/17/2012
2012-11-17 By Richard Weitz Throughout the past decade, under both presidents Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, the Russia’s government policies towards North and South Korea have remained remarkably consistent. They have pursued several integrated key goals, strategies, and tactics in both the security and economic realms: Russian policy makers are eager…

Russia-DPRK Economic Ties

11/16/2012
2012-11-16 By Richard Weitz In addition to their security concerns, Russian officials are eager to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula and prevent abrupt regime collapse in the North in order to achieve their economic objective of greater integration with the prosperous East Asian region. Russians hope that closer ties would…

Main Reforms of the Serdyukov Era

11/14/2012
2012-11-14 by Richard Weitz The August 2008 Georgia War created an opening for Serdyukov and his team to pursue more radical military reforms. In addition to inadequate communications and other technical problems with defense equipment, these shortcomings included cumbersome command arrangements, low unit readiness, and poor leadership throughout the chain…