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Defense Industrialist

Sep 28, 2014

Is the Armored Vehicle Industry Shifting Away from the United States?

By James Hasik

Russian threats and US economizing may be driving the business north and east.   Earlier this month, investors’ website the Motley Fool called the recently-announced alliance between France’s Nexter and Germany’s KMW the possible “birth of a European tank-building superpower” and “General Dynamics’ new challenger”. All the same, in a recent essay for the Lexington Institute, Dan Gouré argues that General […]

Central Europe NATO
A Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker and an RAF Typhoon fighter jet, June 17, 2014

NATOSource

Sep 25, 2014

Russian Air Incursions Rattle Baltic States

By Richard Milne, Sam Jones, and Kathrin Hille, Financial Times

The Baltic countries are registering a dramatic increase in Russian military provocations, rattling nerves in a region which fears it could be the next frontier after Ukraine in Moscow’s quest at asserting its regional power.

NATO Northern Europe
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė

NATOSource

Sep 25, 2014

Lithuania’s President: ‘Russia is Terrorizing Its Neighbors’

By Lally Weymouth, Washington Post

Excerpts from interview of Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite by Lally Weymouth of the Washington Post.

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Russian S-300V SAM and Tor-M1 in 2008

NATOSource

Sep 23, 2014

NATO Airspace ‘Contested’ by Long Range Russian Missiles

By Sydney J. Freedberg, Jr., Breaking Defense

The alliance was looking at this training issue even before Vladimir Putin’s “little green men” took over Crimea.

NATO Northern Europe
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sept. 19, 2014

NATOSource

Sep 22, 2014

Putin Targets the Baltics to Discredit NATO

By Edward Lucas, Wall Street Journal

“[T]he squeeze on the Baltics stems not from any real interest in the fate of expatriate Russians—a matter that Moscow systematically ignores in most countries.

NATO Northern Europe
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sept. 6, 2014

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Sep 18, 2014

Putin: Russian Troops could be in Vilnius, Warsaw, and Bucharest in Two Days

By Delfi and BBC

From Delfi:  In a meeting with Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko, Vladimir Putin allegedly threatened that, if he wanted, the Russian army could occupy Poland and the Baltic states in two days.

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Chinese Ambassador to Iceland Ma Jisheng, Sept. 30, 2013

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Sep 17, 2014

Is China’s Ambassador to Iceland Missing Because He Spied for Japan?

By Reuters and Kyodo News International

From Reuters:  China’s Foreign Ministry refused to say on Wednesday where its ambassador to Iceland was or who was even representing Beijing in the country, following reports he had been arrested by state security for passing secrets to Japan.

China Intelligence

Defense Industrialist

Sep 8, 2014

Is NATO’s 2% of GDP a relevant target?

By James Hasik

Sometimes it’s what you spend, and sometimes it’s where and how you spend it.   With a few announcements of new spending around the NATO Summit, the alliance is a little closer, but only a little, to its “2-20” goals: that every member state will devote 2 percent of its GDP to its military, and 20 […]

NATO Northern Europe
Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard and Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, March 18, 2014

NATOSource

Sep 2, 2014

Special Summit Series: Denmark and NATO

By Magnus Nordenman

Denmark approaches the Wales Summit in the context of a radically changed security environment, due to, among other things, the Ukraine crisis.

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In the News

Sep 2, 2014

Brattberg: “NATO is Essential to Europe’s Security”

By Erik Brattberg

US News and World Report quotes Brent Scowcroft Center Resident Fellow Erik Brattberg on President Obama’s visit to Estonia ahead of the NATO Summit in Wales:

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Experts