February 2007

'Land for Iraq' is the best hope for region Dr Mamoun Fandy, Senior Fellow for Gulf Security
Going it alone because we have to The primary culprit is declining defense spending among U.S. allies. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, defense budgets among NATO members, excluding the U.S., have fallen from 2.49% of gross domestic product in 1993 to 1.8% of GDP in 2005. Britain is actually above the norm, spending 2.3% of GDP, or $52 billion, on defense. Canada, with a defense budget of $13 billion, is below the norm, at 1.1%.
China brushes off Japan lawmaker's concerns China's defense white paper issued at the end of last year said the country's military spending in 2006 will be 283.8 billion yuan ($36.6 billion). The figure from the year before was 247.5 billion yuan. But the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based military think tank, estimated in a report last month that China's defense spending in 2006 was some $122 billion, far larger than the official government figure. The think tank said the official budget omits items such as...
Cheney visit turns up heat on Pakistan "There is only so far that he is prepared to go," said Rahul Roy-Chaudhury of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a leading British think tank on security matters. "Some of this is dictated by the Pakistani military's view of things, and some by the fact that this is not politically popular in large parts of Pakistan."
Failing in Baghdad - The British Did It First By Dr Toby Dodge, Consulting Senior Fellow for the Middle East
Basra betrayed Toby Dodge, an Iraq expert at London's Institute of Strategic Studies, had little time for such claims. Britain, he said, was being "criminally irresponsible" in abandoning the people of Basra to the ravages of "militias, criminals and a police force fighting for control". He added: "Once the British forces withdraw from the city, there will be no restraints at all."
Most U.S. tips fingering Iran false -- envoys "The Americans are worried about enriched uranium, and the Arabs are worried about enriched Shiism," said Mamoun Fandy, senior fellow for gulf security at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. Iran's growing power, he said, "threatens every existing political order in the region."
Can we join the Star Wars club? "The beginnings of a capability are there, but there is scope for improvement as the technology matures," an official said. Andrew Brookes, an aerospace expert and the International Institute for Strategic Studies was blunter. "The system won't work for 10 to 15 years," Mr Brookes said. "They are spending $18bn a year on it and they're not getting it right." The satellite-aided guidance systems would have to achieve the feat of "getting two bullets to hit...
Nimrod fleet grounded in safety alert Andrew Brookes, a defence analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies and a former RAF pilot, said the grounding of planes could temporarily impact on campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. "We would keep our troops in barracks if we did not have the wherewithall to carry out operations," he said.
A Brown Iraq may herald problems By Raffaello Pantucci, Research Associate
Venezuela Rivals U.S. in Aid to Bolivia The International Institute for Strategic Studies, a British research group, said in a recent report that Venezuela, which is undertaking a rapid armaments buildup, could be providing Bolivia with weapons and financing for new military bases. Officials from both countries minimized the report, saying any military assistance was intended to assist Mr. Morales by lending him helicopters and flight crews to travel throughout Bolivia. Citing military officials, the Bolivian newspaper La Razon...
As US surges, British start exiting Iraq Blair's move isn't likely to help the Bush administration. Fewer British troops in Basra will leave Iran in a stronger position and puts at risk US military supply lines in Iraq, say analysts, at a time of an escalating US-Iranian standoff. "This is more about Tony Blair's legacy than the situation on the ground,'' says Toby Dodge, an Iraq historian at Queen Mary, University of London. After 10 years in office, Blair is expected to step down some time in the summer, and analysts say, he is...
Iraq: On the ground: Mission 60% accomplished Blair's move isn't likely to help the Bush administration. Fewer British troops in Basra will leave Iran in a stronger position and puts at risk US military supply lines in Iraq, say analysts, at a time of an escalating US-Iranian standoff. "This is more about Tony Blair's legacy than the situation on the ground,'' says Toby Dodge, an Iraq historian at Queen Mary, University of London. After 10 years in office, Blair is expected to step down some time in the summer, and analysts say, he is...
Rice calls Iraq coalition 'intact' British military analysts said the decision to reduce troops in Basra was not warranted by conditions on the ground. Rather, they cited domestic politics, an overstretched military and fears of being caught in a struggle between the United States and Iran. Mr. Blair's decision, said Toby Dodge of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, was based on his desire "to clear the decks so that he is remembered for something a bit better that the invasion of Iraq and its...
Iran defies deadline to halt atom work - U.N. Analysts say Iran has struggled to operate its two cascades in the pilot plant for longer periods of time without breakdown. Given quality-control problems and inexperience, Iran probably remains three to 10 years away from accumulating enough high-enriched uranium for the core of atom bombs -- assuming it wants them, intelligence estimates and independent analysts say. "Most worrisome is that Iran is proceeding at a fast pace to install centrifuge cascades at Natanz, defying the Security...
Iran: Nuclear Crisis Enters Next Stage Mark Fitzpatrick, a senior nonproliferation expert at the London-based International Institute For Strategic Studies, says that Iran is now exposed to having broader sanctions made against it."The Security Council will begin to discuss another set of sanctions," Fitzpatrick said. "In the last resolution of December 23, the Security Council said very explicitly that if Iran did not meet the 60-day deadline that the Security Council would take up additional measures under Chapter...
Afghanistan, Iran, Blair's legacy "The British Army is hugely over-stretched, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it is an either/or situation," Toby Dodge, from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told AFP. "And there is a feeling that little can be done in Iraq but that it is still possible to do something in Afghanistan."
Chinas Missile Targets More than a Satellite By Dr Patrick Cronin, Director of Studies
US defence companies court India The fighter-jet tender is seen to be a political bargaining chip. Its between the US and Russia, said Andrew Brookes, aerospace analyst for the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. Sweden and France can deliver nothing New Delhi wants politically. At the end of the day this is politics. The decision will be made as much as on politics as on which is a better airplane.
Iranian nuclear negotiator to meet IAEA chief Iran moved the uranium gas (uranium hexafluoride, UF6) early this month from a conversion facility at Isfahan into the underground Natanz plant in central Iran where it last month started installing centrifuge machines, the diplomats said. While Iran has not started running the centrifuges, bringing the uranium gas into the plant was "provocative" act as this is "not the act of a country that seeks compromise,", non-proliferation analyst Mark Fitzpatrick said from the London...