Uzbekistan and Russia: Cooperation at Arm’s Length

10/27/2012
2012-10-27 By Richard Weitz In the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the leaders of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, supported various measures to preserve economic, security, and other ties with the other former Soviet republics. Uzbekistan was a founding signer…

USAF Chief of Staff, Mark Welsh, III Visits the F-35 Factory

10/25/2012
2012-10-25 The new USAF COS underscored the importance of the F-35 to USAF and its approach to air superiority and operations in denied air space. The F-35 brings several core capabilities to the USAF in shaping its evolving approach to global combat presence and capability. First, the aircraft is a…

The Euro Crisis: Waiting for German Elections

10/24/2012
2012-10-24 By Harald Malmgren The mid-October Euro Summit illuminated widening divisions between the leadership in France and Germany. It is the German leadership which is most opposed to a single bank supervisor and a comprehensive “banking union” for the EU. In German politics, a EU banking union is little more than…

BAE Assembly Line for F-35 Key Elements

10/23/2012
A new state of the art production line for the F-35 fifth generation fighter jet has been switched on at BAE Systems’ Samlesbury site. The new production line, known as the Integrated Assembly Line (IAL) has been installed in the latest phase of the new F-35 fifth generation stealthy fighter…

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan: The Taliban Threat Driving Them Together?

10/23/2012
2012-10-23 by Richard Weitz One way Uzbekistan is responding to the new Central Asian environment is by moving closer to Kazakhstan. The two countries are the two most influential of the “stans,” having the largest land mass and population in Central Asia. Uzbekistan is also Kazakhstan’s major trading partner within Central…