NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has visited Kyiv for the first time since Russia’s invasion last year, telling Ukrainians their country’s future belongs in the alliance as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy proclaimed that “it is time” an invitation was extended to join the group. Stoltenberg arrived in the Ukrainian capital early on …
Read More »Yearly Archives: 2023
How to Survive a Great-Power Competition
Southeast Asia’s Precarious Balancing Act As relations between China and the United States grow more antagonistic, the rest of the world is watching with unease. Washington has repeatedly accused Beijing of spying on Americans and trying to steal its secrets, most recently by sending a balloon over the United States. …
Read More »Postimperial Empire
How the War in Ukraine Is Transforming Europe History loves unintended consequences. The latest example is particularly ironic: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempt to restore the Russian empire by recolonizing Ukraine has opened the door to a postimperial Europe. A Europe, that is, that no longer has any empires dominated …
Read More »Specter of prolonged conflict haunts Sudan, as warring generals dig in
In an excerpt from this week’s Security Briefing newsletter, Pentagon correspondent Jared Szuba looks at the deteriorating situation in Sudan, as the conflict between the Rapid Support Forces militia and the Sudanese Armed Forces shows no signs of slowing. Four years after they joined hands to overthrow the decades-long rule …
Read More »Israel’s defense chief warns of multi-front war, says Iran ‘driving force’
According to the Israeli Defense Ministry’s data, Hezbollah received $700 million from Iran last year as well as “knowledge and strategic weaponry” such as precision-guided munitions. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Thursday that the IDF must prepare for a multi-front war in which Israel faces many serious security threats …
Read More »Iran hard-liners lash out at shah Pahlavi’s son over Israel visit
Reza Pahlavi’s trip to Israel and his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be part of his campaign to garner support for regime change in Iran, as the opposition camps were scrambling for unity. A visit to Israel this week by Iran’s last crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, has …
Read More »Syria’s Kurds make their own pitch as Arab states court Assad
Syrian Kurds, whom Bashar al-Assad once labeled “traitors” and “collaborators,” now seek a new peace with the Syrian government. As Arab governments and Turkey seek to mend fences with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the country’s Kurds have unveiled a new initiative to make peace with Damascus, saying that Western governments …
Read More »Israel’s security chiefs split on supporting Sudan’s Burhan, Hemedti
Israel is engaged in efforts to de-escalate tensions in Sudan, but its security and diplomatic leaderships are split between the two fighting camps. The director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Ronen Levy, confirmed Thursday that Jerusalem is involved in international efforts to de-escalate the current conflict in Sudan and is …
Read More »Afghanistan Counterinsurgency: The RIP/TOA Blues – OpEd
United States Counterinsurgency Operations (COIN) in Afghanistan and Iraq were significantly hampered by the haphazard manner in which the United States military deploys units to combat zones. Replacement in Place/Transfer of Authority (RIP/TOA) is the process of the outgoing military unit in a respective Area of Operations (AO) transferring the …
Read More »Whither Multipolarity in a Changing World Order
The Italian political theorist Antonio Gramsci presciently observed: “The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.” This period that we live in is arguably shaped by three elements: two moribund …
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