Category: Blogs

NATO responds to Pakistani request for relief assistance

By NATO

From NATO:  Today the Government of Pakistan has formally requested NATO’s assistance for its flood response efforts. The North Atlantic Council has tasked the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) at NATO Headquarters in Brussel to act as a clearing-house for humanitarian assistance offered by Allies and partner nations. Example of earlier NATO cooperation with Pakistan:  […]

Pakistan: Turmoil to Upheaval

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

First the country of 180 million was rocked by the flood of thousands of WikiLeaks documents that gave credence to claims that Pakistan isn’t only funding and arming the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan but is also playing an operational role directing specific attacks against U.S. and NATO forces. Then, in quick succession, Pakistan was hit […]

AFRICOM’s Impressive Public Diplomacy Product

By Philip Seib

One of the most impressive online U.S. public diplomacy venues is Magharebia, a website and news service for North Africans that is published by the United States African Command (AFRICOM). Offered in Arabic, English, and French, Magharebia illustrates how providing useful information and advancing national self-interest can be successfully combined in a public diplomacy venture.

Kyrgyzstan lifts state of emergency, sets date for parliamentary elections

By RIA Novosti

From RIA Novosti:  Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva has lifted the state of emergency and curfew declared in southern Kyrgyzstan two months ago amid interethnic violence, the Kyrgyz government’s spokesman said on Monday. "The state of emergency in the Osh and Jalalabad regions of the republic has been lifted. The decision comes into effect at midnight […]

NORAD and Russian Air Force conduct first joint air defense exercise

By NORAD

From NORAD:  The Russian Federation Air Force and the North American Aerospace Defense Command will conduct a first-ever cooperative air defense exercise. The civilian air control agencies of Russia (Federal Air Navigational Service) and the United States (Federal Aviation Administration) will also be involved in the exercise along with the military air operations centers at […]

Defense Procurement Politics: F-35 Backup Boondoggle

By Sarwar Kashmeri

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is one of the most respected voices in Washington. Which is why it was so surprising to hear the Senator come out in support of a defense project that is opposed by the military, the secretary of defense, and by President Obama, as being expensive and unnecessary. The project is a […]

Russia sees NATO forces in Eastern Europe as violatation of 1997 agreement

By Andrew Kramer, the New York Times

From Andrew Kramer, the New York Times:  Russia’s Foreign Ministry released a report on Saturday accusing the United States of violating dozens of provisions of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons treaties going back about a decade, apparently in a retort to American critics of a new arms treaty, who have been accusing Russia of violating past […]

Turkish government, military reach deal on top commanders

By Suzan Fraser, the AP

Gen. Petraeus revises the rules of engagement for NATO forces in Afghanistan

By Dan Murphy, Christian Science Monitor

From Dan Murphy, Christian Science Monitor: Gen. David Petraeus, appointed this June to turn the Afghanistan war around, has just made his first visible impact on how the increasingly deadly conflict is being run.

China’s Post-Crisis Economic Rebalancing

By Pieter Bottelier

Years from now, we may look back at 2009 and see that it marked a critical turning point in China’s economic development strategy. The global financial crisis deprived China of a paradigm for economic development, casting strong doubts about western countries’ abilities to restore growth momentum while sustaining domestic fiscal and international financial stability. For […]