2014-08-10 By Robbin Laird Vladimir Putin has returned Russia to the world stage in rather dramatic fashion. The seizure of Crimea from Ukraine is the most obvious statement of Russian power, yet this seizure could obscure the broader strategy and focus of attention. Putin is really an energy czar, running…
2014-08-10 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake Iraq 2014 is not Iraq 2003. Following the invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the US started on the path of the reconstruction of the country. A key approach followed, notably in the surge and thereafter, a counter-insurgency or COIN…
2014-08-08 According to a USMC press release, the Marines are working with the Norwegians to enhance collaboration. U.S. Marines, in coordination with their Norwegian counterparts, are scheduled to conduct a pre-planned Single Ship Movement and offload of military equipment from a Maritime Prepositioning Force ship in the Trøndelag region of…
2014-08-01 By Harald Malmgren There is unspoken, but growing apprehension among central bankers that the Chinese financial market is vulnerable to serious, potentially systemic shocks. To put the measureable scale of debt exposure in perspective, China’s total debt to GDP ratio was 147% at the start of the Great Financial…
2014-08-01 By Dr. Mark Lewis I had the pleasure of serving as Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force from 2004 to 2008, including all of the time during which Mike Wynne was our Air Force Secretary. Working with Mike, and the USAF Chief of Staff, Gen Buzz Moseley, will…
2014-07-30 By Oscar Nkala French defense minister Yves Le Drian says his country will in early August deploy more than 3 000 soldiers to start military operations under its broadened trans-Sahel counter-terrorism initiative which is set to operate from a string of bases in Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Mali and…
2014-07-24 Earlier we published a piece addressed Norwegian participation in RIMPAC 2014. http://sldinfo.wpstage.net/norway-comes-to-rimpac-2014-for-the-first-time-a-symbol-of-21st-century-dynamics/ Norway was joined by China and India as first time RIMPAC participants. What follows below is the official Norwegian government explanation for its participation in the Pacific exercise by the Norwegian Defense Minister. Speech at RIMPAC 2014…
2014-07-20 By Robbin Laird It started with a crisis in Ukraine; it then became a Russian invasion of Ukraine and “taking back its legitimate territory” from the Putin-led Russian perspective. It has continued with an intermittently savage conflict on Ukrainian territory with Russia ratcheting up pressure and fostered in part…
