For the last two months, mystery and confusion has shrouded Gen. Raheel Sharif, Pakistan’s retired army chief, over whether he will be the supreme commander of the Saudi-led “Islamic military alliance” created by Riyadh in 2015. News of Sharif’s appointment has been widely criticized in Pakistan, and the drama underscores the friction in the Saudi-Pakistani relationship. Read Here […]
Not a shot has been fired across the India-China border since 1962, but the Indian media’s China “war” never quite ended. Border “skirmishes” and Chinese “intrusions” into Indian territory still dominate the coverage of China by Indian newspapers and television channels more than half a century on. Read Here – South China Morning Post
There is little doubt that the Middle East towards which President Trump must now shape his policy is vastly different and more complex than the region Obama faced in 2009. Yet, at the end of the day, says Michael Singh, Managing Director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, “the real story in the […]
The Russian military that the United States faces in 2017 is not the poorly equipped and uncoordinated force that invaded Georgia in August of 2008…Following reforms launched in October 2008, and a modernization program in 2011 valued at $670 billion, the armed forces have become one of Russia’s most reliable instruments of national power. Read […]
Here’s a ghoulish game we can all play: guess where the next major war will break out. Or, more apposite; where will Donald Trump start his first war? Not a thermonuclear one with Russia, obviously – this was one of the silver linings attached to the Trumpian cloud. Read Here – Independent
The Middle East, particularly the Gulf states, are quickly recognizing the urgent need for better cybersecurity, while regional adversaries such as Iran have begun weaponizing code as an extension of broader strategic goals within the region. What, though, is the Gulf’s current cybersecurity atmosphere, and how does Iran’s emerging use of offensive cyber capabilities fit […]
Pakistan is unlikely to be a front-burner issue for President Trump, but it’s a country he’ll have to reckon with sooner rather than later. It is difficult to know what to expect from a Trump administration regarding a country that remains by any objective measure both a critical counterterrorism partner and a state supporter of […]
The uncertainty surrounding what a Trump presidency will mean for Russian behavior in Eastern Europe hints at a larger point: The biggest unknown for U.S. interests in the world in 2017 may lie not in Russia or North Korea or the Middle East, but in the United States itself. Read Here – Defense One
“Every Army chief has had his own legacy or way of doing things,” says Saad, who is a barrister in Islamabad, “our father believes in the supremacy of the Constitution. He always says he wants the Pakistan [that the] Quaid-e-Azam envisioned, a Pakistan where institutions are more important than individuals.” Read Here – Newsweek
The tumultuous events that have swept the Mideast like a whirling sandstorm have hardly abated; crises and conflict are now entrenched. Thus, looking back at the results of President Barack Obama’s two-term legacy, it’s clear we are facing a Mideast meltdown with dangerous and far-reaching consequences for the region and the world at large. Read […]
looking beyond borders 