Volume 14 – Issue 6 – August 2008
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All change at the Pentagon
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In his first 19 months as US secretary of defense, Robert Gates has sacked some of the highest-ranking generals and service secretaries in the US military, forced others to resign or failed to renominate them. These personnel changes were sparked by different incidents. However, together they demonstrate Gates's desire to have the Pentagon focusing more on the two wars at hand – Iraq and Afghanistan – rather than gazing into the distant future.
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The military in disaster relief
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The Burmese cyclone and the Chinese earthquake in May this year focused attention on the hugely important role that armed forces may play in responding to major humanitarian emergencies. Political sensitivities and pre-existing conflicts in affected regions may complicate, or even prevent, military deployments for humanitarian and disaster relief (HADR) operations. However, this type of role will inevitably grow in importance as armed forces develop their deployment capabilities and natural disasters occur with greater frequency.
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The Africa Partnership Station
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African countries are reluctant to host regional headquarters for AFRICOM, the United States' new command centre for the region, so the US needed a novel approach to strategic engagement and its navy has taken the lead with the 'Africa Partnership Station' concept. On the programme's inaugural tour, which finished in April 2008, the USS Fort Henry and three other craft travelled around the continent engaging in a broad range of maritime-security training, joint exercises at sea and outreach schemes among local communities.
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Insurgency in Ingushetia
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The small Russian republic of Ingushetia, neighbouring Chechnya in the North Caucasus, has been plagued during the past year by a massive upsurge in violence. Civic activists are unhappy with the Kremlin-appointed local president, Murat Zyazikov, who has been accused of corruption and ineptitude. There is also a small Islamic insurgency engaged in terrorist attacks and criminal activities. The heavy-handed response by Russian federal forces has further fuelled discontent and violence, raising concerns that Ingushetia may be on the brink of a major conflict.
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The US–Russian nuclear balance
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With two key arms-control treaties set to expire over the next few years, the US–Russian nuclear balance is again the subject of international discussion. A new treaty, accompanied by a rigorous inspection regime, will be needed if the great strides made in reducing both countries' nuclear arsenals are to be capitalised upon and a renewed climate of mutual suspicion is to be avoided.
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