2015-11-19 By Amatzia Baram “IS” cannot be defeated as long as it controls territory that can produce large revenue and serve as base for operations. “IS” has the Iraqi-Syrian desert that is providing them with some $1.5m per day worth of oil, in addition to ransom, an endless supply of…
2015-11-16 By Ed Timperlake In a fight against ISIS, a non-state force with the resources of a state, air strikes and insertion of forces can not only lead to the destruction of forces in being but infrastructure supporting those forces. What you do not want to have are forces which…
2015-11-17 President Hollande has responded decisively against ISIS. "France is at war." “The acts committed Friday night in Paris at the Stade de France are acts of war. "We must respond with cold determination to the attack that our country was a target of." [caption id="attachment_82235" align="alignnone" width="300"] VERSAILLES, FRANCE…
2015-11-03 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake The Russian intervention in Syria crosses a strategic threshold. Russia has used a small but decisive air and naval force to side with Assad to protect his regime and specifically Damascus. So far the introduction of a relatively small number of combat aircraft…
2015-11-08 By Richard Weitz The United States and European allies and partners can respond more effectively against the kinds of hybrid threats we gave been discussing on Second Line of Defense. NATO can take actions, primarily in the military and intelligence fields, to deter and counter direct Russian threats against…
2015-10-28 By Robbin Laird During my visit to Europe in October 2015, I had the chance to visit with senior RAF officers and to discuss RAF operations as well as the double transition with Typhoon modernization as well as the introduction of the F-35. For the RAF, it is really…
2015-11-02 By Ed Timperlake and Robbin Laird Fifty years ago, 1965, in Bancroft Hall at the United States Naval Academy, Plebes (freshmen) were required when making a very loud announcement to a gathering of fellow Midshipman to began with the alert-“attention world, attention world.” It was a time when some…
2015-11-02 The Russian intervention in Syria represents strategic change for the region. Now Russia is backing the sovereign government of Syria, and any U.S. actions in the North of Syria would now come into conflict with both normal UN practice and possible Russian retaliation. In other words, the Russians are…
