2012-11-06 by Richard Weitz Ukraine is not currently a full member of any of Eurasia’s strongest military blocs. It remains outside NATO, the Moscow-dominated Collective Security Treaty, and the European Union. Ukraine has joined several weak security institutions, such as the co-founded the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the GUUAM (Georgia-Ukraine-Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan-Moldova),…
2012-11-06 by Richard Weitz The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is the only state to have withdrawn from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), unilaterally disabled IAEA containment and surveillance systems, and expelled IAEA inspectors from its territory in 1993. The United States then intervened and negotiated the 1994 Agreed Framework.…
2012-11-05 by Richard Weitz Uzbekistan is commonly thought to have the most powerful and capable military and especially internal security forces of the five Central Asian countries. The London-based IISS 2012 Military Balance estimates Uzbekistan’s military and security forces to be around 67,000 people, with 50,000 in the Army and…
2012-11-03 by Richard Weitz All U.S. administrations have refused to accept North Korea as a legitimate nuclear weapons state. In addition to wanting to avert a dangerous threat to the U.S. military forces and civilians located in East Asia as well as Washington’s regional allies, U.S. policy makers worry that…
2012-11-03 by Richard Weitz Uzbekistan has sought to balance Russia’s military preeminence and China’s emerging economic dominance of Central Asia by cultivating ties with Western countries and institutions such as NATO. The Alliance had developed some contacts with Uzbekistan and the other Central Asian republics before sending troops to Afghanistan…
2012-11-02 by Richard Weitz American policy toward Uzbekistan are driven by support for Afghan operations as well as energy policy. The main U.S. objectives in Uzbekistan and Central Asia are the following: Promoting these countries’ security against terrorist threats, Supporting the war in Afghanistan, Ensuring their sovereignty and autonomy from the…
2012-11-01 by Richard Weitz According to a new study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), by the end of 2012 Asian defense spending will exceed that of all European countries for the first time in decades, perhaps centuries. Due to a combination of the rise of China,…
2012-11-01 by Richard Weitz The focus of the recent 44th annual U.S.-Republic of Korea (ROK) Security Consultative meeting between ROK National Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was managing the threat from North Korea. “North Korea remains a serious threat to both of our nations and…
