News Brief By Kirsten Ashbaugh 06/27/2011 - Russia has signed a long-expected agreement with France to buy two Mistral-class warships in a US$1.7 billion (€1.2 billion) contract. Anatoly Isaikin, director of the state-controlled arms exporter Rosoboronexport, and Patrick Boissier, president and CEO of the shipbuilder DCNS that will construct the…
By Dr. Robbin Laird 06/19/2011 - The opportunity to discuss the potential impacts of Indian and Brazilian fighter competitions on the next phase of global development presented itself when I crossed paths with Reuben Johnson at the Airbus Military Trade Media event in mid-May SLD: I’m talking to Reuben Johnson,…
06/15/2011 by Robbin Laird Earlier we published a series on the Arctic built around the work of our German correspondent. As an energy analyst, our correspondent considers the Arctic a key region and has demonstrated the keen interest, which 4 of the powers with stakes in the Arctic have demonstrated. …
By Richard Weitz 06/12/2011 - The role of nuclear weapons in NATO’s defense and deterrence policies is clearly declining. The alliance’s Strategic Concept adopted last November clearly states that NATO will retain nuclear weapons as long as they exist, and that NATO wants its nuclear deterrent to be credible and…
An Interview with Gilles Kepel (Credit: http://gilleskepel.weebly.com/) 06/09/2011 - Second Line of Defense’ Robbin Laird sat down with Gilles Kepel in Paris and had a wide-ranging discussion on trends in the Middle East. At the heart of the discussion was a clear argument that any simplistic assumption that there is…
06/09/2011 Earlier this year we published a key interview with a French officer with extensive Afghan experience. His discussion and formulas remain compelling. https://www.sldinfo.com/?p=16559 An excerpt from the interview underscores what recent reports about the Afghan situation issued by the U.S .government simply highlight; investing in a country without a…
06/08/2011 By Dr. Harald Malmgren In June, Eurozone finance ministers continue to be engaged in desperate efforts to reach consensus on how another bailout of Greece should be designed. One might ask why it is so hard to reach agreement, and if it is so hard, why not simply let…
By Dr. Richard Weitz 06/07/2011 - The attendees of the November 19-20, 2010 NATO Lisbon summits (among the NATO heads of state alone and their subsequent meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev within the framework of the NATO-Russia Council) faced two independent BMD decisions: (1) whether NATO would agree to integrate…
