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Aug 13, 2009

Russia’s Armed Forces Undergoing ‘Unparalleled’ Transformation

By Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

From Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: “While it is very likely that the structures that emerge will still compare unfavorably with Western militaries, they will nonetheless meet the needs of a modern and potentially resurgent Russia, enhancing its capability to project power within its “near abroad.” What must be stressed is that the current condition of […]

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Aug 13, 2009

The fog of war: Unravelling the Ossetia conflict, one year later

By the Economist

From the Economist: From another point of view, the EU and NATO reaped the harvest of their neglect of Georgia in previous months. The agreed sanctions after the fighting stopped were feeble. Suspending the NATO-Russia council, or the putative Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and Russia, was not even turning a cold shoulder […]

European Union International Organizations

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Aug 12, 2009

US-Russia stand-off looms as Moscow announces expansion of military bases

By the Guardian

From the Guardian: The prospect of a US-Russian naval stand-off in the Black Sea loomed today after Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow would spend nearly half a billion dollars next year beefing up military bases in Georgia’s breakaway republic of Abkhazia. Much of the money is expected to fund construction of a new naval base […]

United States and Canada

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Aug 11, 2009

Moscow Signals Widening Rift With Ukraine

By the New York Times

From the New York Times: The Russian president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, assailed his Ukrainian counterpart on Tuesday, blaming him for anti-Russian policies that he said have brought relations between the two countries to “unprecedented lows.” In a letter to President Viktor A. Yushchenko of Ukraine, Mr. Medvedev announced that Russia would not dispatch its new […]

Ukraine United States and Canada

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Aug 11, 2009

Russia’s Medvedev: Georgia war changed map for good

By Reuters

From Reuters: A year after Russia defeated neighbour Georgia’s military bid to retake a pro-Moscow region from rebels, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday the war had redrawn the map of the Caucasus for good . . . “Last year’s events have finally redrawn the political map of the Caucasus,” Medvedev told the 58th […]

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Aug 9, 2009

Britain’s Afghan role could last “30 to 40 years” – general

By Reuters

From Reuters: Britain could play some role in Afghanistan until 2050, the next head of the British army said in an interview published on Saturday. General Sir David Richards, who becomes chief of the general staff later this month, said Britain’s military involvement should only be needed for the medium term before giving way to […]

United Kingdom

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Aug 9, 2009

Minister: Germany could be in Afghanistan for another 10 years

By topnews.in

From topnews.in: German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said in a newspaper interview Saturday that the country’s armed forces could be in Afghanistan for up to 10 more years “until the security situation stabilizes for good.” Jung told the Bild daily that in order to bring stability to the northern province of Kunduz, over which […]

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Aug 7, 2009

NATO boss wades into Canadian politics with Afghan plea

By the Globe and Mail

From the Globe and Mail: NATO’s new secretary-general is broaching what is apparently the unthinkable in Canadian politics today, urging Ottawa to keep combat troops in Afghanistan past a planned exit date of 2011. “Of course, I’m not going to interfere with domestic politics in individual allied nations, but seen from an alliance point of […]

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Aug 7, 2009

One year on: Georgia rebounds from war with Russia

By the Telegraph

From the Telegraph: In violation of the peace agreement signed by President Medvedev, over 10,000 Russian troops remain in these two Georgian territories. Their presence is more threatening now that Russia has blocked the extension of neutral UN and OSCE monitors whose mission was to safeguard human rights and observe troop movements . . . […]

United States and Canada

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Aug 7, 2009

Georgia to go ahead with policy toward joining NATO – Saakashvili

By ITAR-TASS

From ITAR-TASS: Georgia will go ahead with its policy toward joining NATO, because this course has no alternative, President Mikhail Saakashvili said on Thursday. “That policy was selected by a large majority of the population in the January 5, 2008 plebiscite (77 percent of the participants then said they would like their country to be […]