French fighters leave for strikes against ISIS targets in Syria on Nov. 15, 2015. French Ministry of Defense Photo
The desire for some expressive use of military power to release pent-up anger in France and the Western world in response to the latest terrorist attack in Paris is reaching a new level. France responded with strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS, ISIL and also called Daesh) targets over the weekend. Read More
Screen grab from Syrian State Television
The deployment of a major Russian expeditionary force to Syria in late September resulted in a flurry of public attention and heated rumors. Read More
Historically, China has been a great innovator contributing inventions such as gunpowder, paper and the compass to human advancement. However, China has earned an international reputation in recent decades as being the home of a prolific copycat culture. Read More
The following is a Sept. 18, 2015 Congressional Research Service “CRS Insight” brief to Congress on how Russian troop moves to Syria complicate U.S. policy.
The following is the Sept. 16, 2015 Congressional Research Service report, Iraq: Politics and Governance. Read More
China’s creation of military-relevant facilities on its newly-created islands in the South China Sea is a cause for concern for countries in Southeast Asia, and several of its investments in the Indian Ocean are raising more questions over the possibility of China’s first dedicated naval support facility overseas. Read More
Fast attack submarine USS Seawolf (SSN-21) surfaces through Arctic ice at the North Pole on July 30, 2015. US Navy Photo
The Center for Strategic and International Studies has proposed creating a military code of conduct in a new multinational forum to discuss security concerns in the Arctic among Russia, the United States and other nations in the region. Read More
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, U.S. President Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-hye in 2014. Kyodo Photo
The prime minister of Japan and the president of the Republic of Korea “are the only ones at the moment” who are capable of improving relations between these two important American allies in Asia, but the question remains “how does it get fixed,” according to a Tuesday panel on the state of relations between the two countries. Read More
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has been surprised by the continuing unity between the European Union and the United States in keeping economic and diplomatic pressure on Russia for its seizure of Crimea and continued meddling in Ukraine, three experts on Eastern Europe said Wednesday. Read More
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sits with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini, before the final EU and P5+1 ministerial meeting about ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif at the United Nations Office in Vienna, Austria, on July 14, 2015. US State Dept. Photo
A one-time hostage of Iran and now a professor at the U.S. Naval Academy says this week’s nuclear weapons agreement with Iran comes down to “this issue of trust” and gave the new Iran nuclear deal his support. Read More
