Some recent news stories highlight a variety of European actions and reactions in the current Russian-generated Ukraine crisis. Ukraine is composed of a variety of ethnic groups, and those ethnic groups are largely from its proximate neighbors. The graph below provides an overview. Source: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/major-ethnic-groups-of-the-ukraine.html The Hungarian government is one…
By Robbin Laird I am crafting a series on mobile basing as a strategic capability for the joint force. The strategic importance of mobile basing goes up with the importance of complicating your adversaries’ targeting solutions and force projection targets. Seabasing is clearly a key part of being able to…
A major Russian military exercise with Belarus is part of the evolving Russian narrative to pressure Europe and the United States. And this Russian broadcast on 18 January 2022 highlighted an interview with a Russian military expert that explained that it was about defending its interests against the “aggressive West.”…
In our co-authored book on the return of direct defense in Europe, we highlighted the importance of enhanced Nordic defense cooperation and NORDEFCO as a coordinating forum, and the high probability that the UK post-Brexit would deepened its relationship with the Nordics as they, in turn, deepened their defense cooperation.…
“Czech Republic is, historically, politically, and alliance-bound to take the side of Ukraine. If Ukraine needs this, we will try to help”, said the head of the Czech MoD, Jana Černochova, stressing the help would be provided based on requirements expressed by the Ukrainian government. The government in Prague noted…
On January 17, 2022, the UK Ministry of Defence published an article by Ben Wallace, the Minister of Defence, with regard to the Ukrainian situation. That article follows: Minister of Defence, Ben Wallace I have lost count of how many times recently I have to had to explain the meaning…
https://sldinfo.com/2022/01/the-nordics-the-uk-and-the-ukrainian-crisis/By Robbin Laird The current Ukraine situation is part of a chain of events. And as such, the Russian threat to Ukrainian sovereignty is simply not about Ukraine. It is about the stability of the current European order. Of course, those with historical knowledge understand that any European order is…
According to the USAF: “U.S. Air Force Airmen assigned to the 20th Special Operations Squadron familiarize themselves with the new nacelle improvement modifications on a CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., Jan. 7, 2022. “The improvements should increase aircraft availability and reduce required maintenance actions, leading…
