There's a new game in Asia The annual Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore, sponsored by the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, has emerged as one of the important vehicles for an international discussion of the evolving Asian security dynamics. This year there is a special focus on India’s role in regional security, besides discussion on changing American military strategy towards the region, the role of Asian armed forces in counter-terrorism, and enhancing regional maritime security. Underlying...
Defense chief leaves for Australia, Singapore After his Australia trip, Seoul's top defense policymaker will leave on June 2 for Singapore to attend the Asia Security Conference called the Shangri-La meeting. Yoon will give a speech on South Korea's view on weapons of mass destruction in the Asia-Pacific region and call for the international community`s support for Seoul's position to end North Korea`s nuclear activities through diplomacy. The security talks, organized by London-based think thank International Institute for Strategic...
No ray of light in tunnel of Iraq war But the International Institute for Strategic Studies reported last week that Iraq is becoming "a valuable proving ground" for "foreign jihadists and could conceivably form the basis of a second generation of capable al-Qaida leaders."
Recognising the Danger of Taiwan Independance In an annual report, the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) concludes that North Korea's nuclear weapons program is a security issue, and means that the risk of a confrontation between the U.S. and mainland China over Taiwan has also increased. Six-nation talks about North Korea's self-professed nuclear program have made "almost no progress" since they began in 2003, the IISS's 384-page Strategic Survey 2004/5 report, released Tuesday, indicated.
In Kuwait: Troops face new missio A study released earlier this week by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies said Iraqi forces were not yet ready to take over any substantial role in fighting the insurgents. "The magnitude of the task [Iraq] faces is indicated by the fact that 155,000 U.S. troops failed to impose order during two years of occupation," the study said.
Pressure builds on Iraq's insurgents But success in one place often just shifts the problem to another. "It's like toothpaste: You squeeze somewhere, and it just pushes the insurgents somewhere else in Iraq," says Toby Dodge, an Iraq expert at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London. "It would work if you had enough people to cover the ground."
Rumsfeld to raise US concerns on North Korea The North Korean nuclear standoff and China's military buildup will top US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's agenda when he travels to Southeast Asia early next month for an international security conference, a senior US defense official said. Rumsfeld is scheduled to attend a two day conference of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore June 4-5, his first stop on a round the world trip that also will take him Thailand and then to Norway and Brussels for a meeting of...
S. Korean, US Defense Minsters to Meet Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung plans to meet U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Singapore next week to discuss ways of resolving the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, the Defense Ministry said Thursday. During his visit to Singapore, Yoon will attend the fourth Asia Security Conference, dubbed ``Shangri-La Dialogue,’’ to be held on June 3-4 and meet military leaders of about 20 countries, including the United States, Japan and India, ministry...
South Korean, Us Defence Chiefs To Meet South Korean Defence Minister Yoon Kwang-ung is scheduled to meet US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld in Singapore on 3 June, ministry officials said. "The two ministers were invited to the same Asian security meeting which will be hosted by a British institute," said an official. "Although they did not set concrete or detailed subjects for the talks, they may exchange opinions about various topics such as the North Korean nuclear issue, relocation of US Forces Korea and...
Turkey's Date for EU Talks a Pyrrhic Victory The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) on Tuesday described, in its Strategic Survey 2004-'05, Turkey's success in getting a date for accession talks from the European Union at the Brussels summit last December as a "pyrrhic victory."
Next Dem battlefront: Iraq Tuesday (May 24) the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a British think tank, released its "2004/2005 Strategic Survey." The report, a well-respected annual assessment of the security situation worldwide, cites a number of positive developments in the Middle East.
20,000 Dead Enders Military assessments of the number of hard-core fighters quadrupled from 5,000 to 20,000 last July, as the number of attacks launched by insurgents jumped from 10 to 13 per day in early summer 2003 to 50 this May. Six hundred Iraqis have been killed since the new Iraqi government took power a month ago. "The upsurge in violence during April and May indicates that neither the US military nor the nascent Iraqi security forces have managed to increase their capacity to control the...
Human rights the first casualty KIRSTEN AIKEN: The London-based think-tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, has a more optimistic outlook. In its annual report released this week, the Institute claims the threat from terrorism decreased slightly during 2004, despite what it calls counter-productive tactics to combat insurgents.The think-tank says its optimism is down to the determination of the US to establish democracy in Iraq, as well as renewed hopes for peace in the Middle after the death of Yasser...
Iran, EU Still Seen As Far Apart Gary Samore, the director of studies at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, said that, despite the goodwill generated by yesterday's meeting, the EU and Iran still remain far apart on the most important issue."I think it was an important outcome in that it postponed a breakdown in the talks between the EU-3 and Iran until after the presidential elections in Iran," Samore said. "[But] the two sides are still very far apart. The EU three are demanding that Iran...
Blair Aims to Win Backing for G8 Priorities Blair will meet Friday with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi in Rome, the first round of a diplomatic offensive that will also take the British leader to Moscow and Washington next month. Some question whether Blair, distracted by a month-long campaign to win re-election, has left himself enough time to broker an accord. "I don't think it is looking good for Blair to win the consensus he hopes for," said Jonathan Stevenson of the International Institute of Strategic Studies.
Insurgents regrouped and refocused "The fact that the U.S. Army managed to prevent insurgent plans from halting the elections, and the fact that such a large percentage of the Iraqi population defied the violence to vote, shook the confidence of the various groups deploying violence for political aim," said John Chipman, director of the independent International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
Report: N. Korea most daunting Asian threat North Korea's nuclear ambitions are the "most daunting security issue facing Asia," according to a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Despite the efforts of the Unites States and other Asian neighbors, the report, released Tuesday, says that "North Korea's efforts to build nuclear weapons remains the most daunting security issue facing the region," and asserts the stalled six-party talks "have made almost no progress" in deterring the...
Report Warns The Institute for Strategic and International Studies said regional troubles, failures of the Nonproliferation Treaty, black market supply networks and poor leadership could lead to a terrorist group acquiring a nuclear bomb, the Scottish Press Association reported yesterday. “The most chilling possibility is the acquisition of a nuclear weapon by al-Queda or a similar terrorist group dedicated to inflicting mass civilian casualties and impervious to threats of retaliation,” the...
N. Korea's Nuclear Drive Biggest Threat North Korea's nuclear ambitions remain the most daunting security issue facing Asia, and the current diplomatic efforts would not lead to Pyongyang's disarmament. So said a leading London-based think tank on Tuesday.
Iraq remains an inspiration for Qaeda The Middle East is more secure than a year ago because of positive developments both in Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict, one of the world’s top think tanks said on Tuesday in its annual survey of global security. But the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said Iraq remained an inspiration for Islamic militants, helping Al Qaeda to recruit and continue to pose a threat to countries around the world.