2015-03-22 By Gary Schaub Dateline: Copenhagen, Denmark Since Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea and, at a minimum, support for forces in eastern Ukraine that are attempting to secede and join Russia, belligerence in its foreign policy rhetoric is becoming more common, as are references to its nuclear capabilities. An…
2015-03-06 By Harald Malmgren An historic February confrontation between the newly elected Syriza-led Greek government and the EU Commission, ECB, and IMF was averted by an ambiguous agreement to sort out differences over the period March to June. Initially, it appeared that Eurozone governments, led by German Finance Minister Schauble,…
2015-03-05 By Robbin Laird Recently, the Centro Studi Internazionali based in Rome published a report by Marco di Liddo and Gabriele Iacovino on Libya and the fluid situation in the country. Obviously, the general situation involving ISIL in the region, Egyptian reactions and the general dynamics of the region feed…
2015-03-11 With the return of direct defense considerations for the Balts and the Nordics, key states like Sweden are rethinking their approach to defense. In an interview in Copenhagen last year with Hans Tino Hansen, the founder and CEO of Risk Intelligence, the shift was the focus of attention: Question:…
2015-03-03 By Richard Weitz Recent weeks have seen China reenergize its campaign against the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in South Korea. The reasons for Chinese concern is puzzling, since the U.S. and South Korean governments have not held any formal talks on such a…
2015-03-07 According to the February 2015, Japan Defense Focus published by the Japanese Ministry of Defence, there has be a significant increase in scrambles by the ASDF in 2014 compared to 2013. And the cause? No surprise here: incursions by the Russians and the Chinese. The ASDF scrambled 744 times…
03/05/2015: The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force(JMSDF) submarine JS Hakuryu (SS 503) arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Credit:Commander Submarine Forces Pacific:2/27/15 According to Wikipedia: The Sōryū-class submarines (16SS) are diesel-electric Attack submarines that entered service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force in 2009. The design is an evolution of the Oyashio class submarine, from which it can…
2015-02-23 Recently, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, the research arm of the German Social Democratic Party, sponsored a look at the future with regard to the European Union and the East. According to the foundation: The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has invited 20 experts from all over Europe to jointly develop four scenarios for relations between…