By Stephen Blank At NATO’s summit, the heads of state will discuss security in and around the Black Sea. No subject could be timelier for Russian threats and the capabilities needed to realize them are steadily growing. Indeed, Moscow’s activities in and around the Black Sea appear to be part…
By Stephen Blank The revelation that President Trump has seriously considered the desirability of invading Venezuela ought to focus our attention on that unhappy country and others like it in Latin America. While Venezuela’s crisis is an extreme manifestation of the kleptocratic autocracies masquerading under the socialist or Chavista sobriquet…
By Robbin Laird Putin has clearly focused on expanding Russian influence in the areas of strategic interest to Russia. While the United States has diffused its efforts with an over emphasis on stability operations and counter-insurgency in the Middle East, the Russians have focused on their core interests and how…
The UK is leading a Joint Expeditionary Force or JEF, which draws upon a pool of high readiness forces from nine partner nations across Europe. This Spring, the JEF carried out its final validation exercises in Joint Warrior held between April 20 and May 5 2018. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson…
By Robbin Laird The UK is in the throes of a major defense modernization. And like the United States, beginning a process of change is one thing, but funding the modernization process through to getting maximum effect is another. The UK faces financial challenges associated with Brexit and an uncertain…
With Britain sorting out Brexit and the European states facing an uncertain future over the way ahead with regard to the structure of Europe itself, defense becomes a vortex for both continuity and change. On the one hand, President Macron has been reaching out to include Britain in the future…
By Harald Malmgren Next week the European Union will hold a key summit. But that summit is being defined by and overshadowed by the political changes throughout key European states. The crisis in Germany is especially central to the fate of the summit. In late May and in the early…
By Kenneth Maxwell With the Presidential election in Brazil due this October the country remains profoundly split between uncompromising extremes. And the political scene remains highly uncertain. Hovering in the background is the figure of the ex-president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, better known as Lula. He is…
