Category: Blogs

Top Belarus Military Officials Fired Over Teddy Bear Incident

By Reuters

From Reuters:  Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday sacked his air defence chief and the head of the border guards for failing to stop a Swedish plane drop hundreds of teddy bears over the hardline state in a pro-democracy stunt.

The United States and the Moroccan Status Quo

By Alec Simantov

The Pentagon attracted quite a bit of attention recently when it announced new military assistance programs in controversial places like Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan, raising questions about the balance between US national security interests and promotion of human rights and democracy.

Al Qaeda turns tide for rebels in battle for eastern Syria

By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, the Guardian

From Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, the Guardian:  Abu Khuder and his men fight for al-Qaida. They call themselves the ghuraba’a, or "strangers", after a famous jihadi poem celebrating Osama bin Laden’s time with his followers in the Afghan mountains

Top News: Court Case to Halt Constituent Assembly’s Activity Until Conclusion of Other Cases

By Egypt Source

Dr. Naguib Gabriel, head of the Egyptian Federation for Human Rights, brought a case before the Administrative Court to stop the work of the Constituent Assembly and its committees pending the ruling on the assembly’s validity. 

Can a New ‘NATO’ Deter Iran?

By Zachary K. Goldman & Mira Rapp-Hooper, the Diplomat

Turkey’s New Ballistic Missile Program Raises Eyebrows and Concerns

By Aaron Stein, World Politics Review

From Aaron Stein, World Politics Review:  Ankara remains far too dependent on Washington for its intelligence and reconnaissance capabilities.

Syria’s Olympian Tragedy and the New Middle East

By Julian Lindley-French

The struggle for Syria is forging a new Middle East. Summer Olympics are often used by desperate, repressive, time-expired regimes to act repressively. The Russians invaded Georgia in the midst of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Now, the Assad regime is attacking Syria’s largest city Aleppo. Some estimates suggest up to 200,000 people have already been […]

Prosecutors say alleged Syrian spy tried to infiltrate German intelligence service

By the AP

Widening Gaps in U.S. and European Defense Capabilities and Cooperation

By Charles Barry and Hans Binnendijk, Center for Transatlantic Security Studies

From Charles Barry and Hans Binnendijk, Center for Transatlantic Security Studies:  The national defense budgets of many NATO nations, purposefully held down over many years before the economic crisis, have been forced abruptly lower still under the duress of unexpectedly severe economic conditions.

Taliban happy Pakistan reopened NATO supply line

By Mirwais Khan, the AP

From Mirwais Khan, the AP:  As the United States trumpeted its success in persuading Pakistan to end its seven-month blockade of supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan, another group privately cheered its good fortune: the Taliban.