Defense & Security Archive

Earlier this week, South Korea made the surprising announcement that it intended to sign a landmark military pact with Japan today. But faced with domestic criticism over the potential partnership, South Korea postponed signing the General Security of Military Information Agreement. As historical tensions between the two countries continue to hamper their attempts to develop a closer relationship, the fate of the treaty remains unclear. “There is just an overriding common interest on the part of South Korea and Japan to share some critical information, especially about North Korea,” Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the […]

The rule of law remains fragile in Latin America, and, once undermined, it is difficult to re-establish. That has been the painful lesson learned by Honduras since the legally dubious 2009 ouster of President Manuel Zelaya, an event that U.S. diplomats, at least in leaked cables, have referred to as a coup d’état. And it is one that Paraguay might learn after the abrupt removal of President Fernando Lugo via congressional impeachment last weekend. Ever since the 2009 crisis, Honduras has been dogged by rapidly growing governance deficits and rising lawlessness, driving ever-deeper involvement by U.S. counternarcotics forces in the […]

As residents flee the violence in Syria, some towns in the North have been turned into virtual ghost towns. World News Videos by NewsLook

A confidential report by a United Nations group of experts that was leaked to the media has led to rising tensions between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. The report follows recent allegations of Rwandan backing for a mutiny by elements of the Congolese army in April, when soldiers in eastern Congo defected and formed the March 23 Movement rebel group. The U.N. group of experts found that Rwanda has played a pivotal role by providing direct support not only to M23, but also to other armed groups in the area. “Apparently Rwanda has been involved in […]

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a warning to Syrian forces Tuesday to stay away from the border after Syria shot down an unarmed Turkish RF-4E reconnaissance plane last week. In an email interview, Gareth Jenkins, an Istanbul-based writer and analyst, discussed the state of Turkey’s air force. WPR: What is the current state of the Turkish air force? Gareth Jenkins: Turkey has one of the largest and best-equipped air forces in the greater Middle East. Its main strike force consists of F-16s together with F-4s and F-5s. In recent years, the air force has received a disproportionately large […]

Syria shot down a Turkish warplane last week, raising tensions between the neighbors to an all-time high. In an email interview, Sean O’Connor, a contributor to IHS Jane’s and an expert in air defenses, reviewed the state of Syria’s air defenses. WPR: What are Syria’s current air defenses, and what are their particular strengths and vulnerabilities? Sean O’Connor: A comprehensive analysis of available commercial imagery indicates that Syrian strategic air defenses primarily consist of Soviet-era surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems occupying a total of 76 fixed-site locations. A further 101 fixed-site locations are present to serve as either defensive improvements employing […]

On Sunday, an old Army friend sent me a note to let me know that an officer with whom we both served had died in Afghanistan. I first fought in Afghanistan more than a decade ago, so the fact that friends are still fighting and dying there more than 10 years later gave me pause. Despite President Barack Obama’s promise to reverse the neglect of the Afghanistan War that had marked his predecessor’s time in office, most of the United States is eager to forget the war. So it will be interesting to see the reception that greets Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s […]

Yesterday’s NATO meeting on Syria’s downing of a Turkish RF-4 Phantom reconnaissance jet Friday underscores the growing importance of Turkey and NATO for each other. Syria claims that the shooting occurred when an unidentified jet made a low and threatening overflight deep in Syrian territory, while Turkey insists that Syria knew the plane was Turkish, and that it had already left Syrian air space when it was shot down. The Turkish government decided to invoke Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which provides for urgent consultations if a member state considers its security interests threatened. It did not call […]

Delivering a speech directed at his new government on state television, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said his country was in “a real state of war.” World News Videos by NewsLook

In talks over its suspected nuclear weapons program, Iran has repeated urged the international community to respect its “inalienable right” to peaceful nuclear technology. In an email interview, Leonard Spector, the deputy director of the Monterey Institute of International Studies’ James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, discussed Iran’s rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. WPR: What is the legal basis for Iran’s claim to a “right” to nuclear energy technologies and capabilities? Leonard Spector: Iran is relying on Article IV of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which states that nothing in the treaty should be interpreted to affect the inalienable […]

After three days of fighting with Israel, the military wing of Hamas announced Wednesday that it was ready to accept a cease-fire brokered by Egypt. The exchange of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rocket fire followed an Israeli retaliation against a Palestinian attack launched from the Egyptian-ruled Sinai Peninsula, which has seen a rise in violence amid that country’s broader upheaval. Yoram Meital, chair of the Chaim Herzog Center for Middle East Studies and Diplomacy at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, told Trend Lines that if the fighting in the Israel-Gaza-Egypt border junction continues, all three sides could be pulled into […]

Tens of thousands of Sudanese have flooded into South Sudan in the last month, fleeing the bombing and burning of their villages. World News Videos by NewsLook

Earlier this month, the European Union agreed to create the European Cybercrime Center based at the EU’s joint police body, Europol. In an email interview, Dominik Brodowski, a lecturer in the law faculty at Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, discussed the EU’s efforts to fight cybercrime. WPR: What mechanisms does the European Union already have in place to prevent, detect and prosecute cyber crimes, and what are the shortcomings? Dominik Brodowski: Actually, the union’s 27 member states prevent and prosecute cybercrimes — not the European Union itself. As the EU strives to provide an area of freedom, security and justice, though, […]

A Pentagon official says the US believes three Russian ships carrying supplies and possibly personnel will be departing for Syria and the US has no reason to believe they are headed anywhere other than Russia’s naval base in Tartus. World News Videos by NewsLook

Earlier this month, Leon Panetta became the first U.S. defense secretary to visit Vietnam’s Cam Rahn Bay deepwater port since the end of the Vietnam War. He attended a ceremony at the USNS Richard E. Byrd, a cargo ship operated by a mainly civilian crew under the Navy’s Military Sealift Command, which was undergoing repairs by Vietnamese workers. Speaking on the deck of the ship, Panetta called for more high-level exchanges between the U.S. and Vietnam, as well as enhanced defense cooperation. If Panetta chose to stop in Vietnam for a few days during his nine-day tour of Asia, it […]

The United States military is expanding its secret intelligence operations across the African continent, according to an article in the Washington Post. The article explains that close to a dozen air bases have been set up over the past five years. The aircraft that fly in and out of these air bases are equipped with surveillance equipment and disguised as private planes. These operations will only intensify as the U.S. continues to fight a “growing shadow war” against militants in the region. Describing how the United States Africa Command, or Africom, has grown in size and scope in recent years, […]

Mauritania, and its periodic bouts of political instability, has important implications for the trajectory of secret U.S. military operations in Africa, as a recent article by Craig Whitlock in the Washington Post shows. American spy planes have flown out of Mauritania on and off for several years, but politics has sometimes constrained America’s role there. In 2008, for instance, a coup in Mauritania “forced Washington to suspend relations and end the surveillance,” Whitlock writes. Today, Mauritania’s potential significance to the U.S. military is increasing. In neighboring Mali, torn apart by a civil war since January, the Islamist group Ansar al […]