U.S. Special Forces Strike in Syria

Just tonight I heard that a U.S. Special Forces team crossed into Syria to conduct a raid on a small town near the Syrian/Iraq border. Major General John Kelly states in the AP article that there were concerns with border security and the free flow of militants across the border into Iraq. The article also mentions that the U.S. believes that militant networks from North Africa are funneling fighters to Syria for their trip into Iraq. BBC is reporting that Syrian officials are saying that the U.S. should have used proper channels before attacking a civilian target. BBC also reports that American officials aren’t responding. Video is available.

21st Century Pirates

Imagine these guys with tanks.

In the past two months, Somalia’s pirates have made the news with a spectacular hijacking of a cargo of Russian tanks on its way to Sudan. Another ship was boarded carrying “minerals,” which later made the hijackers and their families sick. The Gulf of Aden creates a perfect geographical funnel to a choke point called the Bab el Mandeb that links it to the Red Sea. So, opportunities abound from unprotected traffic. BBC reported today that some of the pirates use a sophisticated intelligence network to determine the most valuable (and presumably most vulnerable) ships from the millions of tons that pass through that area per year. Piracy does not get this sophisticated overnight so some enterprising person or group planned on making lots of money.

Major powers have navies for just this sort of security. The 18th and 19th centuries naval powers justified their massive expenditures in response to growing international commerce. Merchants needed safe passage, especially at these choke points. What does it mean that piracy groups can operate this freely in a passage that connects Western economies with Asia? Are they that good or this just too small an issue for navies of the world to take note?

Domestic Politics and Egypt’s Nuclear Restraint

Given the security landscape of the Middle East, Egypt was seen as a prime candidate for nuclear proliferation in the 1960s-70s. Yet, despite intermittent efforts to build a nuclear weapons capacity, Egypt has repeatedly shown nuclear restraint. Its failure to build the bomb remains a puzzle for proliferation experts and International Relations scholars. A more nuanced look into the domestic politics of Egypt, however, reveals a military with latent political power. This relationship, which developed through a series of actions taken in the run-up to and aftermath of the 1967 War, has compelled the political elite to block efforts to build a weapons capacity. In short, the domestic political decisions that were made under Nasser and Sadat have created a situation that induces the Egyptian regime to forego the nuclear weapons option while showering the military with incentives at the expense of the civilian population. What implications does this relationship have for Egyptian and regional security? Should U.S. policy be adjusted to reflect (or exploit) this cleavage in Egyptian civil-military relations?

Implications of Russian Energy Development – A Policy Brief

The Russian energy sector is characterized by a lack of upstream exploration and development in oil and gas. Outside investment and market penetration problems for foreign companies decrease gains from newer technology and reduce production.      Weak and ageing infrastructure prevents Russia from fully realizing potentialrevenue from productionand transportation of its oil and gas reserves to European countries. Russia would benefit from sharp increases in infrastructure investment and has many avenues toward turning an old, inefficient and unreliable distribution network and refining sector into a world leader in capabilities and responsiveness to demand.

Putin and Turkmenistan President Berdymukhammedov at a groundbreaking ceremony. (Russiajournal.com)

Weighing A World of Secrets: Assessing the Utility of Intelligence

The world of intelligence is a dark, shadowy realm that often eludes even astute outside observers. However, open source channels provide a window into this universe, which allows for the cost-benefit analysis of having a national intelligence community. The utilization of intelligence communities can certainly provide tremendous benefits to a regime, but it comes with significant drawbacks in the form of risks for both national and international affairs. Mitigating these risks is possible, but only to a limited extent.

(en.novayagazeta.ru)