Arctic Challenge Exercise 2015: Norway as the Lead Nation

04/11/2015
2015-04-11  According to a story on the Norwegian Ministry of Defence website published on 4/8/15: In 2015 one of Europe’s largest fighter jet exercise is to take place in the Nordic countries, with Norway as lead nation. [caption id="attachment_76541" align="alignnone" width="300"] Norwegian F16s taxiing for take off. Credit: Norwegian MOD.[/caption]…

Caspian “Trilaterals” Impart New Regional Dynamism

04/08/2015
2015-04-04 By Richard Weitz The Russia-Ukraine war has highlighted the security dilemmas of Eurasian countries that find themselves outside of any regional military alliance. Although recent attention has focused on Ukraine, the Caspian littoral countries have, for several years, considered themselves vulnerable to renewed Russian assertiveness and have complained about…

The Dutch Chief of Staff on the Evolving Threat Environment: The 2015 Future Force Conference in the Netherlands

04/04/2015
2015-04-04 Recently, the second Future Force Conference was held in the Netherlands. From March 23-25 2015, the Future Force Conference was held to look at the challenge and opportunities offered by technologies to allied or enemy forces. http://www.ffc2015.com/ [caption id="attachment_76277" align="alignnone" width="240"] Dutch Chief of Staff General Middendorp. Credit: Dutch…

Abandoning a Treaty: Russia Makes a Statement

03/18/2015
2015-03-18 by Richard Weitz On March 10, Russia ended its participation in the Joint Consultative Group of the Treaty of Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. Moscow’s decision effectively formalizes Russia’s lack of interest in working within the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, and deepens concerns that the Kremlin will…

The Greeks Buy Time While Germany Repositions Within Europe

03/17/2015
2015-03-06 By Harald Malmgren An historic February confrontation between the newly elected Syriza-led Greek government and the EU Commission, ECB, and IMF was averted by an ambiguous agreement to sort out differences over the period March to June. Initially, it appeared that Eurozone governments, led by German Finance Minister Schauble,…