2015-01-11 According to a December 20, 2014 story on the Italian Defense website, the Defense Minister’s visit last Fall to Egypt has led to a new Egyptian-Italian agreement on defense cooperation. Cooperation between Italy and Egypt is stronger. Today, in fact, Minister Pinotti and her Egyptian counterpart, Gen Sobhi, have…
2015-01-08 By Richard Weitz The new Russian military doctrine adopted shortly before Christmas [available on the Kremlin website makes somewhat clearer Russian leaders’ current threat perceptions and national security priorities. This iteration, which more accurately reflects Russian government statements, is the fourth since the Russian Federation became an independent country…
2015-01-03 As a new member of the Euro, Lithuania becomes the third Baltic state to join the pact. Clearly, this is about politics as well as economics, and joining is seen as a buffer to the Russians. As noted in a Reuters piece published on December 31, 2014: Lithuania joined…
2014-12-23 By Richard Weitz In its newly published book, Brothers Armed: Military Aspects of the Crisis in Ukraine (East View Press, October 2014; by Vasiliy Kashin, Sergey Denisentsev, et al; edited by Colby Howard and Ruslan Pukhov), the experts at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST), Moscow’s premier…
2014-12-13 by Richard Weitz This is the third and final part of the series on looking at the role of Kazakhstan with regard to nuclear security. Renewing Nuclear Energy During the past decade, Kazakhstan has dramatically increased its production and export of uranium. From 2001 to 2009, the country’s uranium…
2014-12-18 By Tore Hamming Sunni militancy has evolved rapidly in recent years and we are constantly trying to keep up with our understanding of trends and developments. For more than a decade, al-Qaeda (AQ) has been considered the main bad guy. This perception changed briefly in 2005-2006 during the Iraqi…
12/16/2014: Chinese Harbin Z-9E helicopter practices landing aboard the U.S. Navy's guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104). Sterett and ships from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (Navy) PLA(N) commenced a bilateral counter-piracy exercise, U.S.-China Counter-Piracy Exercise 15, in the Gulf of Aden and the Horn of Africa. Aiming to promote…
2014-12-12 By Richard Weitz Kazakhstan has played a prominent role in the global efforts to prevent nuclear terrorism. For example, Kazakhstan has played a leading role in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, hosting important meetings and supporting other projects. In April 2008, Kazakhstan’s Mazhilis (lower house of parliament)…
