... noteworthy rise in terror attacks in Afghanistan, which brought about by Taliban, Al-Qaida and the Islamic State affiliates. Improving the security situation in Afghanistan requires Washington to overcome the challenges in shifting from its current counterterrorism (CT) efforts to a counterinsurgency (COIN) campaign that will be focused on the local population in Afghanistan. The Trump administration should take its first steps in this direction on the military, economic, social, and political levels. ...
- Опубликовано:
- 25.08.2017 10:53:28
UPDATE 19 DEC According to Buenos Aires News and other sources, Colombia's justice system has fined Brazil construction and engineering giant Odebrecht $250 million, having found the firm guilty of corruption to secure contracts. The company is also banned from tendering for state contracts in Colombia for ten years. According to the Buenos Aires News coverage, Odebrecht is suspected of paying out around $750 million to win government and near-government business in Latin America and the Carribean...
- Опубликовано:
- 12.07.2017 01:32:13
Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, many analysts of Russia-Middle East relations have emphasized the contrast between Moscow’s generally cooperative relationship with Iran and tense relationship with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. While this cleavage continues to persist, there are signs that a thaw between Moscow and the GCC bloc is a more realistic possibility than many regional experts have previously assumed. Veteran Russian diplomat Veriamin Popov highlighted...
- Опубликовано:
- 29.03.2017 15:45:00
In these days, as Iraqi forces backed up by the US-led coalition are trying to break the last stand of ISIS resistance in the battle for Mosul, the world will witness the laying of a milestone in the war against the cancerous terrorist state, which broke out across the lands of Iraq and Syria, to rapidly metastasize its cells worldwide.
However, as much as it would be tempting to abandon oneself to the enthusiasm following the achievement of such a major breakthrough, a more collected look at the...
- Опубликовано:
- 28.11.2016 00:14:00
... Despite these diplomatic overtures, major disagreements on the legitimacy of Assad’s government remain roadblocks to deeper cooperation between Washington and Moscow in Syria.
These disagreements are unlikely to be overcome by small-scale counter-terrorism cooperation. It is possible, however, that the United States and Russia could come to a temporary consensus on the need to prioritize counter-terrorism in Syria and avoid a destabilizing regime change.
Taking a historical perspective, Russia’s ...
- Опубликовано:
- 03.07.2016 23:28:00
... could result in blowback terror attacks on Russian soil, indirect Russian military assistance to the Somali government could be highly beneficial for regional security. It would also bolster Moscow’s international status as a leader in combatting terrorism. Despite these positives, the Somali government’s isolation from international arms markets, and Mogadishu’s close bilateral relations with Turkey remain serious obstacles to deeper Russian involvement in the Horn of Africa.
How ...
- Опубликовано:
- 19.06.2016 23:10:00
In May 2016, Russia’s Mariinsky Theater orchestra held a classical music performance in the historic city of Palmyra, which had been retaken by the Syrian government after it suffered devastation from the self-proclaimed Islamic State. The concert has become yet another step in the new political race of the 21st century: a battle where new methods of making political points complement traditional ways of fighting and propaganda. It would not be an overstatement to say that ISIS redefined what propaganda...
- Опубликовано:
- 11.06.2016 18:55:00
... between Moscow and the Libyan government is of great value to Russia’s security. With the Libyan government’s assistance, Russia can build a multilateral alliance network against ISIS in Libya that bolsters its status as an alternative counter-terrorism leader to the United States. It can also create a durable economic partnership with Tripoli that will bolster Russian leverage in the Middle East. Russia-Libya Cooperation and Counter-Terrorism While Russia and the West have been united around ...
- Опубликовано:
- 02.06.2016 00:21:00
... opt for then.
Likewise, in Europe, as leftist leaders are challenged, weakened, and/or ousted one-by-one and are replaced by governments whose missions are resisting pressures of EU policy, as racial, ethnic, and religious tension, fears of Islamic terrorism, nativism, and demagogues become ever more commonplace, it is terrifying to envision its future, too. An autocratic Russia sits on Europe’s edge, poking and prodding from the outside, funding right-wing extremist parties in Europe that ...
- Опубликовано:
- 17.04.2016 14:28:00
The Yemeni Civil War is probably not the most talked about conflict in western media, with all the attention attracted by the unfortunately well-known atrocities committed by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Nevertheless, the bloodshed has reached sizable proportions with estimated 6000 dead since March 2015 and it cannot absolutely be underestimated for the gravity and magnitude of geopolitical effects it carries on the the Middle East and the rest of the world.
The war broke out as a confrontation...
- Опубликовано:
- 15.03.2016 13:01:00
... to compromise with and accommodate Iraqis Sunnis and others that created the current crisis with ISIS. The sad truth is that if Maliki had treated the Sunnis and Kurds more fairly, the Iraqi government—Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds united against terrorism as they were back in 2007—would have been in a strong position to fend off any ISIS incursions coming into Iraq from Syria. If anything, the internal dynamics of Syria spilled over into Iraq, not the other way around, and hardly related ...
- Опубликовано:
- 15.01.2016 16:37:00
... particularly appropriate for Putin’s strategy because his methods of pursuing whatever gains he seeks pose risks that threaten to harm Russia’s interests more than those gains would help them: Russia is particularly vulnerable to Sunni extremist terrorism for a number of clear reasons and its moves in Syria, as I have written before, are only going to expose Russia to further attacks. If Russia is so concerned with 10% of its arms sales and access to a few military bases in Syria, I am certain ...
- Опубликовано:
- 13.12.2015 16:44:00
... stadium during a live match, at a restaurant, at a theater during a concert. For those who bring up drone attacks, as if they are some sort of moral equivalent. Drones involve precision weapons, and strikes target those are terrorists or involved in terrorism. There are civilian deaths in these attacks quite often, but with no evidence to the contrary we cannot legitimately make the claim that those civilians are the intended targets and that there is not a legitimate intended target, even if intelligence ...
- Опубликовано:
- 21.11.2015 13:33:00
A Sensible Grading of Obama’s Middle East Strategy: The Syrian Civil War
Grading Obama on what has—and has not—been done by his administration regarding the Syrian Civil War
By Brian E. Frydenborg (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter @bfry1981) August 3rd, 2015
Reuters
Originally published on LinkedIn Pulse here
Those who argue that the Obama Administration’s overall Middle East strategy is a total failure have no sense of strategy themselves and dangerously substitute tactical-here-and-nows...
- Опубликовано:
- 03.08.2015 13:05:00
A Sensible Grading of Obama’s Middle East Strategy, As Opposed to Republican Nonsense: Part I: Introduction, Muslim World Reset, Iraq, Israel/Palestine
If you can’t understand that Obama’s overall Middle East strategy is starting to work, you don’t know what you’re talking about
By Brian E. Frydenborg (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter @bfry1981) May 21st, 2015
Originally published on LinkedIn Pulse here and also published by Stupidparty Math v. Myth thanks to Patrick...
- Опубликовано:
- 07.06.2015 22:25:00
... encounter in Gaza in the summer of 2014. Their leadership decimated by a failed revolt against British rule in Palestine in the 1930s, the Palestinian Arabs were a mess when the British, exhausted emotionally and materially from WWII and facing Jewish terrorism in Palestine, announced their decision to leave and transfer responsibility to the fledgling United Nations. In the ensuing conflict, Israel established a state, but some 700,000 Arabs fled because of direct expulsion at the hands of Jewish ...
- Опубликовано:
- 02.02.2015 16:14:00
When It Comes to U.S. Relationships in the Middle East, Expect a Lot More Change in Coming Years and Decades.
By Brian E. Frydenborg, originally published January 5th, 2015
If you think your site or another would be a good place for this content please do not hesitate to reach out to me! Please feel free to share and repost on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter (you can follow me there at @bfry1981)
2014 has certainly been a year of change. While an ostensible explanation for this would be the...
- Опубликовано:
- 19.01.2015 17:46:00
... understanding of Al-Qaeda's goals, strategy, and tactics. I'm not talking about al-Qaeda's grandiose vision of global domination through a violent Islamic caliphate. That vision is absurd, and we are not going to organize our counterterrorism policies against a feckless delusion That Is never going to happen. We are not going to high These murderous thugs and their aspirations into something larger than they are”.
Maybe it was just a macroscopic oversight, but one that inevitably ...
- Опубликовано:
- 14.01.2015 20:42:00
How the Obama Administration Removed Iraq’s Largest Political Obstacle
Originally published Nov. 2nd, 2014
How Did It Come To This?
At some point during Obama’s second term of his presidency, he and his Administration realized that Nuri Kamal al-Maliki was part of the problem, not part of the solution. It did not help that when the administration realized this, violence in Iraq was increasing to levels not seen since the height of the near-civil-war experienced in 2006-2007 during...
- Опубликовано:
- 13.01.2015 18:52:00
... parades. Many participants were long date Europe's residents. But instead of taking a hard stance against those, the European governments rushed to stress profusely that Islam is a religion of peace. It is unclear why condemning the supporters of terrorism would have anything to do with the nature of Islam as a religion, but as it stands being politically correct is probably a major source of concern than homeland security.
In this regard, Europe - more than the U.S., Australia and New Zealand ...
- Опубликовано:
- 08.01.2015 02:17:00
