Volume 11 - Issue 5 - July 2005

The Department of Defense’s 2005 report on China’s military, published on 19 July, offers a decidedly worrisome assessment of Chinese plans and intentions, voicing particular concern about the scale and breadth of various weapons development programmes. For the first time since the Bush administration assumed office, Washington has explicitly characterised China’s military power not only as a threat to Taiwan, but in a larger regional context as well. Its judgements have immediate implications for current deliberations in the Quadrennial Defense Review process.

Full text & PDF (free to all users) >>>

In terms of casualties, security implications and political moment, the 7 July terrorist attacks on London were the most serious ones outside of Iraq since the March 2004 atrocities in Madrid. They tend to reinforce the view that the global jihadist network has successfully adapted to the removal of its operating base in Afghanistan; drawn inspiration and energy from the US-led intervention in Iraq; seeks to isolate America from its European allies and partners, and perhaps establish a strong European network from which to target the United States.

Full text & PDF (subscribers only) >>>
Buy this article online >>>

US President George W. Bush has expressed confidence in the emergence of significant momentum behind political reform throughout the Middle East. Yet the transition to democracy, such as it is, has been slow, and evidence to support the idea that recent stirrings noted by many observers constitute the beginnings of tangible political liberalisation is ambiguous at best.  The obstacles to reform are many.

Full text & PDF (subscribers only) >>>
Buy this article online >>>

A recent string of bombings in tourist areas in western Turkey, and an upsurge in attacks on security forces in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of the country, heralds a new phase in the Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) 21-year insurgency. There is a danger that the rising toll of casualties will provoke a crackdown by the security forces in southeastern Turkey and increase the pressure on the military to strike at PKK camps in northern Iraq.

Full text & PDF (subscribers only) >>>
Buy this article online >>>

The election by a landslide of the hard-line mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as president of Iran on 25 June 2005 surprised most observers. Yet, as the dust has begun to settle, it has become apparent that Ahmadinejad’s electoral success reflected a greater degree of planning and calculation on his part than had hitherto been appreciated, and that his campaign showed a better grasp of the changes that have taken place in Iranian politics and society than Ahmadinejad’s opponents were able to demonstrate.

Full text & PDF (subscribers only) >>>
Buy this article online >>>