The Mukawama Effect

12/09/2010
Israel: « No Second Chance » An Interview With Amos Harel   Amos Herel (Credit: www.haaretz.com)    12/09/2010 - During the Second Line of Defense Visit to Israel in November 2010, an article was published by Amos Harel of Haaretz, which caught our eye [1]. The article began with a…

Putting Afghanistan in the Rear View Mirror

12/06/2010
Rethinking “Contingency” Operations By Heather Penney 12/6/2010 - With the deluge of media and congressional attention on the budget, deficit, and national debt, it is surprising that the connection between our current/future economic predicament and OEF/OIF has been conspicuously absent from the debate. According to the CRS, costs for OEF/OIF/GWOT…

The Arctic Sea Competition: Strategic Competition (Part Two)

11/28/2010
By Caroline Mükusch German Correspondent, Second Line of Defense Credit image: www.crystalinks.com 11/28/2010 - When it comes to the North Pole and the question of who wins the race for the Arctic, two major interests are rising: energy and security.  Therefore Arctic neighbor states regularly assert their national interests in…

European Defense: Save, Cut And Sustain

11/28/2010
European Defense: Save Money, Cut Forces, Sustain Afghan Commitments (for now) [caption id="attachment_13394" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="(Credit: The Hudson Institute)"][/caption] By Dr. Richard Weitz 11/28/2010 - The 1998 St. Malo Declaration between Britain and France, which inaugurated the European Security and Defense Policy, declared that: “The Union must have the capacity…

The Arctic Sea Competition and Key Strategic Challenges for Europe (Part One)

11/18/2010
By Caroline Mükusch German Correspondent, Second Line of Defense 11/18/2010 - The opening of the Arctic raises simultaneously energy security, environmental questions, and strategic competition.  There are five states which claims based on extensions of their rights under international law to parts of the Arctic region: Norway, Denmark (Greenland), Russia,…

“Fly Before Buy”

11/15/2010
The Air Force Tanker Decision: A ‘Fairer’ Way Forward By Michael W. Wynne,  21st Secretary of the Air Force Credit: KC-135, http://www.aviationexplorer.com 11/17/2010 - The Air Force is confronting a conundrum that in 1998, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) called a mandatory replacement program for the aging tanker fleet.  There…

African Partnership Solution

11/05/2010
From Global War on Terrorism to Grass-Roots Maritime Security By Sebastian Bruns, Assistant Analyst, Risk Intelligence Sebastian Bruns is an Assistant Analyst for Risk Intelligence and works on naval strategy and maritime geopolitics. He holds a Masters in North American Studies and is a PhD candidate at the University of…

Explaining Afghan-Pakistan Border Tensions

11/05/2010
By Dr. Richard Weitz (Credit: http://www.dawn.com) 11/05 /2010 - The Obama administration has decided to pursue a more “proactive” air campaign against the Taliban insurgents and Islamist terrorists operating out of the autonomous tribal regions of northwest Pakistan. Afghan border outposts come under constant attack by Taliban and Haqqani-affiliated insurgents…