2014-05-21 By Kenneth Maxwell Russian President Vladimir Putin is looking east. On a two day state visit to China, meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin has made the center piece of his strategy the signing of a long term 30 year natural gas supply deal with China. The talks between…
2014-05-20 by Robbin Laird Dateline: Paris, France With the return of direct defense considerations, the Western Alliance will need to focus on what needs have to be addressed and how. But has the Russian action in Crimea as well as earlier actions in Georgia raised the prospects that NATO territory…
2014-05-18 by Robbin Laird Dateline: Paris, France Declaring the “Cold War” over, then President Sarkozy announced that France was going to build two amphibious ships for the Russian navy. Built on a commercial hull, the Mistral has become an important ship for the French navy, and provided significant support for…
2014-05-14 By Robbin Laird The coming of the USMC for a 6-month rotation in the training areas of Northern Australia is a concrete manifestation of the US-Australian deepening their working relationship in shaping 21st century Pacific Defense capabilities. The Aussies are engaged in significant defense modernization projects, such as the KC-30A…
2014-05-14 By Robbin Laird Since the reunification of Germany and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the defense of Europe has been largely a politically managed affair. The business at hand was shoring up the European Union and NATO arrangements to deal with the new situation, and to expand East as…
2014-05-12 By defenceWeb The United States has secured a ten-year lease extension on Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, an important base in the region, but may extend the lease for twenty additional years. The new agreement was announced on May 5, 2014 by President Barack Obama and Djiboutian President Ismail Omar…
2014-05-01 by India Strategic Dubai. Saudi Arabia held its biggest ever-military exercise over two weeks this April in three theaters across the country reportedly involving some 100,000 personnel from its army, navy and air force. Details were sketchy as usual from the rather secretive kingdom but officially published reports said…
2014-04-29 by Stephen Blank Even a year ago Russia seemingly played a limited role in the Middle East. Today Russia is vigorously advancing throughout the entire region. America’s widely, and sadly justifiably, perceived strategic retreat, confusion, and ineptitude only account for part of this transformation. While even Russian analysts admit that…
