Category: Blogs

Estonia and Lithuania Disagree on Rotating NATO Air Policing Mission

By Lithuanian Tribune

From Lithuanian Tribune:  Estonian Minister of Defence Urmas Reinsalu is silent on when the issue of the NATO air policing mission’s periodic rotation between Lithuania and Estonia, wanted by Estonia, would be resolved.

Confidential Report: US Weapons System Designs Compromised by Chinese Cyberspies

By Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post

From Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post:  Designs for many of the nation’s most sensitive advanced weapons systems have been compromised by Chinese hackers, according to a report prepared for the Pentagon and to officials from government and the defense industry.

New Rules Will Allow Military Commanders to Counterattack Foreign Cyber Threats

By Zachary Fryer-Biggs, Defense News

From Zachary Fryer-Biggs, Defense News:  After three years of grueling internal debate, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs is poised to approve new rules empowering commanders to counter direct cyberattacks with offensive efforts of their own — without White House approval.

Obama Nominates New Ambassador to NATO and Assistant Secretary of State for Europe

By White House

From White House:  Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate

Crisis in the Sahel: Trafficking

By Rudolph Atallah

Organized crime—especially various forms of smuggling and narco-trafficking—is the lifeblood of the vast under-governed expanse of the Sahara. It is within this largely decentralized and politically corrupt milieu that terrorists and criminals work together to access weapons and money to sustain their symbiotic operations.

Win Wars Not Battles

By Harlan Ullman

If there is one strategic weakness or Achilles’ heel in U.S. geostrategic thinking, it is a fixation with winning battles and not winning wars. The North Vietnamese famously crowed, “America won every battle and lost the war.” In Afghanistan and Iraq four decades later, the same critique applied. America and the coalition won virtually every […]

Top News: EU Failure Will Allow UK, France to Arm Syrian Rebels

Britain and France are free to supply weapons to Syrian rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad from August, after attempts to renew an EU arms embargo on Syria failed on Monday.

China to Send More Than 500 troops to Mali to Contain Islamic Militants

By AFP and Cary Huang, South China Morning Post

From AFP and Cary Huang, South China Morning Post:  China has offered to send more than 500 soldiers to the UN force seeking to contain Islamist militants in Mali in what would be its biggest contribution to UN peacekeeping, diplomats said in New York.

Top News: President Refers NGOs Law to Shura Council

By Egypt Source

Egypt’s presidency referred the final draft of a proposed NGO law to the Shura Council for deliberation, having changed a handful of controversial articles included in previous drafts of the bill. Several members of the president’s advisory team held a Monday press conference to unveil details of the final draft, which they view as better […]