2012-11-25 By Richard Weitz The fate of Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov’s controversial reforms, designed to transform a traditional mass mobilization military created to fight another global war with the West into a force optimized to win local conflicts and counterinsurgencies, remains in doubt. The reforms have succeeded in destroying the…
2012-11-24 by Richard Weitz The economic dimension of the U.S. Asia Pivot took another step forward when the United States and some of its economic partners recently decided to try to reach a comprehensive regional trade agreement by next October’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. U.S. President Barack Obama hosted talks…
2012-11-21 by Richard Weitz While Iranian missiles are being used in the Gaza strip, and the Israelis are shaping a strategy to deal with them, an update on Iran and its nuclear program is of pressing importance. It is time to put wishful thinking in the corner, and get realistic…
2012-11-20 By Richard Weitz A core goal of the Serdyukov reforms was transitioning the Soviet-era mass mobilization military designed to win another global war with the West into a force optimized to fight local conflicts such as counterinsurgencies as well as participate in peacekeeping operations and counterpiracy and counterterrorist missions. This…
2012-11-20 by Richard Weitz In his first post-election press conference on November 14, President Obama reaffirmed interest in achieving a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear dispute since he believed the “window of opportunity” for a negotiated settlement, though closing, was still open. Obama explained that, “there should be a way…
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…
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…
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…
