2014-04-29 In a piece published on Eurasianet.org, Joshuya Kucerna published a piece looking at the opportunities and challenges for the Russians in expanding their Black Sea Fleet. (Excerpts) Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled his intent to expand the country's Black Sea Fleet now that the previous restrictions to its size…
2014-04-28 by Harald Malmgren The hesitant, cautious, incremental responses of US policy towards Russia with regard to developments in Syria, Iran, and now Ukraine, and further Russian threats to Transniestria and other Russian “neighbors” is generating rethinking in Asian capitals. Notably, China’s PLA is ramping up its aggressive rhetoric about…
2014-04-28 by Robbin Laird With the breakup of the Soviet Union, a key challenge was the nuclear weapons on the territories of the former Soviet territories, which were now sovereign states. For Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, determining what do with Soviet weapons and how to address their role in the…
2014-04-26 For those of us who remember Russian history, kto kvo was Lenin’s famous quote about political struggle. The question of who benefits is a foundation for any political maneuvering, not short term “tough” policy stances. We published a piece earlier on the challenge of imposing sanctions on the Russians…
2014-04-25 by Robbin Laird The Russians have been map-making in Crimea. With the Ukraine in play, close observers of Russian behavior are taking their measure of what such behavior might mean elsewhere. Clearly, an area of note is the Baltics. With Putin’s emphasis on Russian ethnic solidarity trumping international borders,…
2014-04-24 By Cem Devrim Yaylalı The Montreux Convention regarding the regime of the Turkish Straits was signed on 20 July 1936 in Montreux. With this convention, the Republic of Turkey managed to end the issue of Straits, which was resolved temporarily with the Treaty of Lausanne, so as to protect its…
2014-04-24 By staff writer from defenceWeb A pertinent illustration of why South Africa needs a capable and well-equipped defense force comes from a discussion by the chairman and three members of the Defence Review committee. Taking the example of South African losses suffered in the Battle for Bangui last year, Roelf…
2014-04-22 by Robbin Laird Lieutenant Gen. Terry Robling, commanding general of US Marine Corps Forces Pacific, speaks in front of Marine Rotational Force – Darwin about the relationship between the Australian Defence Force and the United States Marine Corps and the honor Brig. Michael Harris displayed on behalf of both…
