January 2008

30 Jan 2008 - - ISN Security Watch - Assessing the dirty bomb threat According to Beyond the Dirty Bomb: Re-thinking Radiological Terror published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, "ingestion, inhalation and immersion (I3) attacks, in which radiation doses are delivered internally or by direct contact with the skin, can credibly kill in order of magnitude more people than a dirty bomb, are likely to incite considerably more fear among members of the public, and may require a much lower level of technical skill to...
30 Jan 2008 - Bitterlemons International - After the NIE, the US needs a braver Iran policy The fourth of what has been dubbed the Manama Dialogue was held in Bahrain on Dec. 7-9, 2007. The Manama meeting is organized annually by British think tank the International Institute of Strategic Studies and hosted by the government of Bahrain. The dialogue is the Gulf version of parallel meetings held in Verkunde (Germany) on Euro-Atlantic security as well as one in Asia on Asian and Pacific security. Invited were Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,...
29 Jan 2008 - - Straits Times - Sustaining the surge to stability There are about 42,000 coalition military forces here. (During) the Soviet Afghan war, the Russians stopped their effort with 120,000 or 130,000 troops. I can recall the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London then estimated it would take 300,000 minimum to fight a successful counterinsurgency here. And at that point the Russians withdrew. We often find ourselves fighting the last war. I think the US military presence here is the best balance of military and civil...
29 Jan 2008 - - Deutsche Press-Agentur - Kosovo - the EU's toughest challenge The proposal received no more welcome in Belgrade, where parliament in December voted to reject any treaty which did not treat Kosovo as part of Serbia - including the EU deal. That threat "is serious," said Colonel Christopher Langton, senior fellow for conflict and defence diplomacy at the Institute for International Strategic Studies in London. Despite the dangers, however, experts say that the union still has the potential to turn the situation into a stunning success....
29 Jan 2008 - - Reuters - Ashdown withdrawal leaves hole in Afghan effort Other candidates include Kai Eide, a Norwegian diplomat and highly-respected Balkans expert, and Turkey's Hekmat Cetin, a former NATO civil envoy in Kabul who enjoys Afghan support. "It's not clear if (other candidates) would have the same stature internationally as Ashdown," said Colonel Christopher Langton of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
28 Jan 2008 - - Christian Science Monitor - Musharraf argues case in Europe Western countries want to see a decline in extremist activity as well as evidence that Pakistan is doing its best to adhere to democratic norms. But "you have such a complex situation in Pakistan," says Bastian Geigerich, a fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. "You want free and fair elections, but you don't want it all to fall apart," he says. Mr. Geigerich adds that Musharraf "clearly understands how critical he is and will milk it for what...
24 Jan 2008 - - Guardian - Realism's grim prognosis But Kissinger was not the only one to point out that hopes for "real" peace were not all that realistic. Just a few days after his analysis was published, Asharq Al-Awsat featured an article by Mamoun Fandy, the director of the Middle East programme at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, who called straightforwardly for a "'No' to Peace", arguing that some sort of "legal settlement" was a more realistic goal. As far as realism or...
24 Jan 2008 - - Bitter Lemons International - NIE opens new windows of opportunity By Mark Fitzpatrick, Senior Fellow for Nonproliferation
24 Jan 2008 - - Agence France Presse - Searching for a new world order in Davos "We don't live in a multi-polar world, we live in a non-polar world," said John Chipman, director general of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. While the United States is clearly too strong to stay on the sidelines of world affairs, Chipman argued that it was also "too weak" to implement an agenda without wide international support.
23 Jan 2008 - - Los Angeles Times - Six-nation pact takes aim at Iran Mark Fitzpatrick, a senior nonproliferation expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, said it was clear going into Tuesday's talks that they would not involve any significant economic sanctions, such as a halt in gasoline sales to Iran or a block on Iranian oil and gas exports, the only kind of measures that might be likely to produce an immediate and significant effect. Russia and China, and sometimes Western European countries, have opposed such measures. ...
22 Jan 2008 - - Middle East Times - Politics & Policies: Ahmadinejad's Iran In a recent paper published by the International Institute of Strategic Studies titled, "Iran under Ahmadinejad: the Politics of Confrontation," Ansari attributes Ahmadinejad's success to "precisely because his reputation for ineptitude and eccentricity meant that he was not taken particularly seriously, and many reformists believed that this ineptitude meant he would not be in post for long." As mayor of Tehran, Ahmadinejad displayed rather unorthodox ways of grabbing...
19 Jan 2008 - - Straits Times - Invest energy to tend S-E Asian ties, US urged DEFENCE Minister Teo Chee Hean describes South-east Asia's multi-layered security architecture, with its mix of formal and informal structures: First, at the multilateral level there are security forums with broad memberships, such as the Asean Regional Forum which groups 27 countries. In a less formal setting is the annual Shangri-La Dialogue - the only forum where defence ministers from the region and beyond get together.
18 Jan 2008 - - Bloomberg - BAE Buys Tenix Defence to Double Sales in Australia Australia's military budget rose 2.9 percent in 2006, compared with 2.5 percent in the U.K., according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Tenix also boosts BAE's naval business and will help it penetrate Asian markets, particularly India, Cunningham said.
18 Jan 2008 - - Council on Foreign Relations - Recession, Beyond the Economy Recession could also heighten the economic stakes of the Iraq war, limiting policy options for the next U.S. president. A November 2007 congressional report details the impact of rising war costs on the economy. Conversely, a recent report from the British-based International Institute for Strategic Studies predicts an economic downturn could solve the militarys recruitment woes.
18 Jan 2008 - - Channel News Asia - American leaders receptive to message, says Teo Chee Hean Mr Teo said: "China, India, Japan - all these countries are seeking to engage countries in Southeast Asia more actively. And I suggested to them that the US may also want to see in what creative ways they can expand their already very strong relationships that they have with various countries in the region, and also as a collective with ASEAN." Mr Teo also met US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who said he will attend the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
15 Jan 2008 - - Times - Squandered oil bonanza may bring down Iranian President When he became President, oil was $60 a barrel; recently, it has been almost two thirds as much again. Few presidents have been so lucky. But as Ali Ansari, an academic specialising in Iran, argues in a subtle report for the International Institute for Strategic Studies, that was a blessing for Iran, forcing its leaders to be innovative and financially cautious. One of the reasons why the Islamic Republic had been able to weather political storms ... had been that the management of the economy...
11 Jan 2008 - - BBC News - Helicopter shortage in overseas missions At first sight, it seems strange that the French government in this case, or often the UN, should have to go cap in hand to beg for additional helicopters. A quick glance at any military almanac like, for example, The Military Balance, published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, shows that if you just take the Nato countries alone, they have hundreds of helicopters at their disposal.
10 Jan 2008 - - Lloyd's of London - Transportation a terrorist target With the overwhelming global terrorist threat now coming from Islamist jihadist groups with a desire to inflict mass civilian casualties, transportation networks are now under greater threat of attack than ever before. Not only do these groups aim to hit major targets at times when they are likely to be the busiest, for example the London Underground at rush hour, but they are also willing to engage in suicide bombings, making them very unpredictable and harder to stop. Bob Whalley, Consulting...
9 Jan 2008 - Radio Free Europe - Afghanistan: A First Step Toward 'Turning' Moderate Taliban? Christopher Langton, who studies Afghanistan at London's International Institute For Strategic Studies, says it is a particularly important area for President Karzai to stabilize. "If it is stabilized, all sorts of follow-on could occur in other parts of the country when people see a successful outcome in Helmand Province," Langton says. Langton says the stabilization of Musa Qala and the fertile farmland of the nearby Sangin Valley would allow repairs and upgrades to the nearby...
8 Jan 2008 - Christian Science Monitor - As Violence Ebbs, the Next Hurdle for Iraq is Political Progress As for Iran and its promise, according to Iraqi and US officials, to stop the funding and arming of Shiite militias, the US says it continues to have a wait-and-see attitude. But many analysts point to rising Iranian influence on all fronts. "Iran supports a wide range of proxies, some of which are in direct competition with one another. It is clear that Iran's leaders want the Iraqi state to remain weak," said the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies in a...