October 2005

China Rising In his address to the Shangri-La conference, which was arranged by the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London and named for the hotel in which it is held, Mr. Rumsfeld raised the question of Chinese military spending, its expanding missile force and its ability to project military power."Since no nation threatens China," Mr. Rumsfeld said, "one must wonder why this growing investment? Why these continuing large and expanding arms purchases? Why these continuing...
Is Iraq worth its price tag? "It is a serious problem and a security challenge for the United States and international community that Iraq has become a magnet for anti-Western, anti-American beliefs. That has to be incorporated into the price that's being paid for this intervention," said Patrick Cronin, a former Bush administration senior official and current director of studies for the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
War’s fertile grounds for soldiers of fortune Given the cost of defence today, this trend is likely to continue. There just aren’t enough troops available to do everything,” said Christopher Langton, editor of the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ annual Military Balance report published last week. “The debate is about accountability. That has still to be worked out.”
Admirals sink Navy In its Military Balance report published this week, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, based in London, said that it was difficult to make a case any longer for a “blue-water” Navy. Britain was facing a future of “complex irregular warfare” with new-era enemies. “Armies, marines, special forces and their supporting air and maritime elements will be heavily committed while strategic air forces and navies will remain largely irrelevant,” the...
Diplomacy on Iran's nuclear program But "the key to what happens in Vienna (where the UN nuclear watchdog is to decide in November whether to send the Iranian file to the Security Council) is Russia's position and this still does not change Russia's position," said Mark Fitzpatrick, a senior fellow at the IISS think tank in London.
Iraq Update: " No peace without victory" Declining public support for the U.S. project in Iraq was also compounded this week by a report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The British think-tank indicated a significant number of U.S. forces would be needed in Iraq for at least the next five years -- well into the first term of the next administration.
US to retain force in Iraq after Bush goes The US will likely have to retain a sizeable military force in Iraq even after President George W. Bush has left the White House, a leading London-based defence think-tank said on Tuesday. On the day the number of US soldiers killed in the conflict reached 2,000, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, which publishes a comprehensive account of military forces around the world, said that plans by the US to shift combating insurgency to Iraq's own army had not yet borne fruit, while...
US faces long haul in Iraq American and British attempts to combat insurgency in Iraq have failed and US troops will be forced to stay there in large numbers well into the next presidency, a leading international think-tank has said. The forecast by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) was released yesterday, as the number of US soldiers killed in the country rose to the psychologically significant watermark of 2,000, a toll five times higher than that of the 1991 Gulf War. The total was reached after...
Many more years of bloodshed Substantial numbers of American troops will have to stay in Iraq well beyond the end of the Bush presidency, the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies predicted yesterday.“I think the next US administration will have forces in Iraq for some time to come,” said Patrick Cronin, director of studies at the influential institute. Speaking after the publication of the institute’s annual Military Balance, an assessment of the world’s armed forces, he said...
For rebels, targets are often Iraqis In its annual report on global military might, the London-based think tank said strategists had hoped new technology would let them target enemies accurately from ships and planes, avoiding protracted ground battles. But it said conventional armies have been sucked into messy conflicts, often in towns, where they face enemies invulnerable to the advanced gadgetry that was supposed to dissipate the fog of war and herald a new era in warfare.
Diggers 'suited to fighting insurgents' Australia's soldiers are better placed to combat the tactics of insurgents in Iraq than the US Army, a leading strategic thinktank believes. In its annual report on global military forces, the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said the US had demonstrated its superiority at conventional warfare in its crushing defeat of the Iraqi military in March and April 2003.
Australian Army can deal with insurgents A leading international research body says Australia's military is better designed than the US Army to deal with extremist groups such as Al Qaeda. Western countries have been planning for the wrong kind of warfare, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Charter ratified amid Iraq rifts International Institute for Strategic Studies director John Chipman observed that Iraq remains "very unstable" and violent unrest looks set to grow, even if political talks remain the best way forward.
Talks must follow cheers for Iraqi charter International Institute for Strategic Studies director John Chipman observed that Iraq remains "very unstable" and violent unrest looks set to grow, even if political talks remain the best way forward.
China defence spend more than double Chinese military spending is more than double the level the country admits to publicly and is growing rapidly, a defence think-tank said on Tuesday. In its yearly assessment of global military power, the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies estimated that China spent $62.5bn on defence last year, compared with the government’s official figure of $25bn.
A question of power: West wins wars Smith's argument found an echo in a report on Tuesday by the International Institute of Strategic Studies, which said Western powers were being forced to rethink strategy because the Iraq conflict had shown the limit of their conventional armies. In its annual report, The Military Balance, the think-tank said conventional armies had been sucked into messy conflicts, often in towns, where they face enemies invulnerable to the advanced gadgetry supposed to herald a new era in warfare.
New constitution adopted "U.S. plans to shift the burden of fighting the insurgency from their own forces to the newly trained Iraqi army have not, to date, borne dividends," John Chipman, director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said in London. "Overall, Iraq continues to be a very unstable country ... With U.S. plans for indigenization not making progress, lawlessness and sectarian violence look set to increase."
A Far From Satisfactory Step Forward 'The conflict environment of the early 21st- century certainly does represent a new era in warfare,' said the International Institute for Strategic Studies yesterday, adding: 'but not the era that Western military planners expected.' That is to put it mildly. Having expected a quick win in Iraq and a grateful population, the US and Britain now find themselves bogged down in an increasingly debilitating battle against insurgents in which they are regarded as the enemy occupiers. Yet Washington...
China's military spending The modernization and reform of China's armed forces, challenging the United States and its allies, is one of the main defense and security issues in east and northeast Asia, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said Tuesday. In its "Military Balance 2005-2006," the British think tank said China's increased military spending "threatens stability in the Asia-Pacific region" as well as heightening Washington's concerns over the country's capability.
Western military rethink - report Western military powers are being forced to rethink strategy because conflict in Iraq has shown the limits of their conventional armies, the International Institute of Strategic Studies said on Tuesday. In its annual report on global military might, "The Military Balance", the London-based think-tank said strategists had hoped new technology would let them target enemies accurately from ships and planes, avoiding protracted ground battles. But it said conventional armies have been...