June 2006

Regiment mounts up, leaves Fort Carson The 3rd ACR also bid farewell to one of its most celebrated commanders, Col. H.R. McMaster, 43, who led troops into Tall Afar in the spring of 2005 and reclaimed the city from the grip of insurgents. McMaster was one of the first Army leaders to stress the need for cultural and Arabic language training for troops. A West Point graduate who holds a Ph.D. in military history, McMaster is headed to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, where he will help devise...
Learning from the Europeans RECENT humanitarian crises in South-east Asia signal a need to re-think the nature of security cooperation in the region. Pandemics, tsunamis and earthquakes - all these point to a need for greater preparedness and coordination among states in the region. At the Asian security summit conference (the Shangri-La Dialogue)in Singapore earlier this month, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Najib Tun Razak proposed the idea of a disaster relief centre for the region.
3rd ACR loses its famous chief McMasters next assignment is a think-tank job at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, where hes charged with devising better tactics to battle terrorism. His successor in command of the 3rd ACR is Col. Michael Bills, who comes from the Armys Human Resources Command.
Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone Accepts Award Sites was tapped by Yahoo! last September to launch his news journal, where he plans in a single year to cover all of the roughly three-dozen armed conflicts identified globally by the international Institute for Strategic Studies. His most recent assignment, as of press time, was in troubled Sri Lanka.
Iran and North Korea appear to learn "The real lesson Iran learned from North Korea is that high-stakes brinksmanship brings rewards," arms control expert Mark Fitzpatrick wrote in Survival, a publication of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. Fitzpatrick, a former State Department official, noted that North Korea's pullout from the nuclear arms control treaty gives credence to Iranian threats to do the same, "especially when North Korea paid no discernible price for it."
Hungary denies US missile base link US President George W Bush has pushed for the system, which dates back in a more ambitious form to the administration of Ronald Reagan. The original idea - dubbed Star Wars - was to counter the Cold War threat from Soviet missiles. However, defence analysts from such organizations as the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies have raised doubts over whether or not such a system could work.
Japanese Nationalism vs. Bush's Asia Agenda But a growing number of academics and diplomats worry that increasing tensions caused by Japan's intransigence on the issue could make it more difficult for China, South Korea and Japan to focus and cooperate on North Korea's nuclear program. Some have even suggested that the U.S. attempt to mediate in some way. But the Bush administration has, so far, steered far clear of the issue and that's likely to continue. "Although Japan's inability to resolve this issue undercuts its...
News Briefing with Secretary Rumsfeld SEC. RUMSFELD: Hello, folks. The minister of Defense of Australia is standing to my right. He is -- Dr. Nelson is here on his first visit as minister of Defense. He is -- we had a good visit in Singapore very recently, at the Shangri-La Conference.
Time for a compromise on Iran nuclear deal The dilemma of the West is that the deal it could get today is worse than the deal it could have gotten a year ago but better than what it could get a year from now. At some point a decision is better to cut ones losses, said non-proliferation analyst Mark Fitzpatrick of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Kasyanov urges G8 to press Putin Mikhail Kasyanov, former Russian prime minister and a possible presidential candidate to succeed Vladimir Putin in 2008, appealed yesterday to leaders of the Group of Eight leading industrial nations to spell out their concerns "firmly and publicly" about the drift away from democracy in Russia. Speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, Mr Kasyanov criticised a series of constitutional changes implemented by Mr Putin that had undermined party politics in...
Questions over American policy on China The stakeholder language is a long way from that of the dragon slayers, led by the Pentagon, which this February attacked the pace and scope of China's military build-up, as putting the regional military balance at risk.The US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, repeated the call for China to explain its military intentions three weeks ago, at the annual Asia security talks in Singapore, the Shangri-la Dialogue.
Russia's ex-PM Kasyanov to visit Britain "An address to the local political and business elite at the International Institute of Strategic Studies will rank among the key events on Kasyanov's program. In a report, entitled "Russia's Presidency of the G8: Challenges and Opportunities" the Russian ex-prime minister will set forth his understanding of what the situation in Russia is like and how it could develop further," Dikun said
Forget diplomacy, Iranian issue Nuclear analysts said Iran was likely now to ask the powers to define an enrichment halt as spinning without feeding. This could confront the West with a tough decision. China and Russia will want to say this is not enrichment so its a basis for a deal, said Mark Fitzpatrick of Londons International Institute for Strategic Studies. But as long as centrifuges spin, Iran is gaining crucial expertise that would enable them to prevent accidents,...
U.S. Defense Official Says China's Military The Defense Department estimates that China's military expenditures are actually two times to three times higher than officially published figures when such costs are included, Rodman said. The department has calculated the actual figure for China's military expenditures at $70 billion to $105 billion. "At the high end, this would make China the largest defense spender in Asia," Rodman said. Other institutions, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the International Institute...
Where to draw line on atom work key to Iran "This could confront the West with a tough decision. China and Russia will want to say this is not enrichment so it's a basis for a deal," said Mark Fitzpatrick of London's International Institute for Strategic Studies. "But as long as centrifuges spin, Iran is gaining crucial expertise that would enable them to prevent accidents, leaks or other telltale signs of secret activity," he said.
China's Military Buildup Raises Concerns The Defense Department estimates that China's military expenditures are actually two times to three times higher than officially published figures when such costs are included, Rodman said. The department has calculated the actual figure for China's military expenditures at $70 billion to $105 billion. "At the high end, this would make China the largest defense spender in Asia," Rodman said. Other institutions, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the International Institute...
Tehran has stake in success of Korean missile Russia -- at least in the Soviet past -- also contributed to this covert transfer of knowledge. In fact, military-aviation expert Andrew Brookes, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, says all the missiles now in the news trace their heritage to the simple Soviet Scud missile, and therefore even further back, to the German V-2 rocket of 60 years ago: "All the rockets we are talking about now are variations and developments of that fundamental Scud...
How to buy a nuclear deterrent Sir Michael Quinlan, a long-serving senior MoD civil servant who is now a senior fellow at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, told the committee that there are "two different kinds of independence which are different levels of insurance policy with different costs." "One is independence of procurement, which the French for the most part have gone for at high cost; the other is independence of operation. We have gone for the latter which costs a great deal...
Iran regarded as most powerful after Israel "Iranian leaders believe an effective defensive deterrence can force their enemies to relinquish their threats of pre-emption, believing that such a move would be too costly," the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies said. In its latest annual military balance, IISS reported that Iran -- with the assistance of China, North Africa, Pakistan and Russia -- manufactures nearly 2,000 products for the military as well as 42 export clients. IISS cited munitions,...
Eyewitness to the birth of the EU's By Dr Jean-Yves Haine, Research Fellow for European Security