6/29/12: In mid- June 2012, Second Line of Defense talked with Victor Gervais, a young French researcher who recently published his dissertation on the UAE military. Gervais had just returned from a two-week visit to the UAE when we discussed with him his perspectives on how the UAE leadership was…
6/27/12: By Dr. Stephen Blank Evidently the Administration thinks it can persuade Russia to resolve Syria’s civil war by simply abandoning its ally, Bashear Assad, and thereby facilitate a Yemeni type solution there where Assad simply leaves Syria.[i] Moscow too has sent envoys around the world telling everyone that it…
6/25/12: By Richard Weitz Sino-Iraq relations will likely continue to strengthen in the near future. China, which imports more than half its oil, needs Iraqi energy, while Iraq, which continues to suffer from sectarian violence and an unstable political environment, depends heavily on China’s willingness to invest in the country…
6/24/12: By Richard Weitz On November 10, 2011, the Center for Science, Technology, and Security Policy at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Hudson Institute Center for Political-Military Analysis and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) hosted a workshop to discuss the future of the Department…
6/24/12: by Ed Timperlake A recent Heritage Foundation seminar focused on the F-35 and allies. The presentations were by Colonel Kevin J. Killea,
United States Marine Corps, Dr. Robbin F. Laird,
Co-Founder and Senior Analyst, Second Line of Defense and Anthony “Lazer” Lazarski
Military Legislative Assistant, Office of Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK). The…
6/22/12: By Richard Weitz For the past two decades, China has neither followed nor strongly opposed U.S. policy regarding Iraq. In the lead-up to the 1990-91 Gulf War, the PRC adhered to a carefully crafted neutral stance, abstaining from the U.N. vote authorizing the use of force while both condemning…
6/19/12: by Richard Weitz In addition to these strains between Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites, three sources of Arab-Kurdish tensions exist despite their shared Iraqi Sunni background: territorial disputes, constitutional disagreements, and diverging foreign policy orientations. Since 2003, Iraqi Kurds have simultaneously been creating an autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in…
6/19/12: by Kenneth Maxwell The "Folha de Sao Paulo" reported on Monday, June 11th, 2012, that Brazil has spent almost R$2 billion in Haiti between June 2004 and May 2012. What began as an emergency military operation to provide security for six months with a cost estimated at R$150 million, reached almost R$…
