Defense & Security Archive

The United Nations reported last week that the number of refugees from Syria has now surpassed 2 million, even while more than twice that many people are internally displaced. Combined, the numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) mean that the intensifying conflict has forced one-third of the Syrian population from their homes. Those who have managed to escape Syria altogether have largely fled to Lebanon and Jordan, and in such large numbers that they now amount to nearly 20 percent of the population in those countries, according to Bessma Momani, an associate professor at University of Waterloo and […]

Can Barack Obama ever trust the United Nations Security Council again? And will the Security Council, and the U.N. more broadly, trust the U.S. president? Last week, Obama vented his frustration with diplomacy over Syria at a press conference during the G-20 summit in Russia. Asked why he had called for military action in response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s resort to the use of chemical weapons, Obama claimed the alternatives “would be some resolutions that were being proffered in the United Nations and the usual hocus-pocus.” This was a sour if pithy turn of phrase from a president who […]

Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part investigative series on U.S. and French counterterrorism efforts in Niger. Part I examines Niger’s emergence as a target of terrorist groups active in the Sahel region. Part II will examine the growing U.S. security presence in Niger, and the nascent tensions with France over how best to counter terror and bolster Niger’s security. Until May 23, Niger, a desperately poor, landlocked country of 17 million that shares long borders with volatile states including Mali, Algeria, Libya and Nigeria, had been spared from the violence that has plagued its neighbors over the […]

President Barack Obama apparently failed to change any minds on Syria when the leaders attending the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, met for a working dinner Thursday night. Instead, according to Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, the divisions over Syria “were confirmed” at the dinner. One of the problems facing the Obama team is that there remains widespread skepticism about the veracity of U.S. intelligence claims. Even as lab results from Britain’s Porton Down laboratory seem to confirm that sarin gas was used in the attack on three Damascus suburbs on Aug. 21, Russia, along with some other countries, […]

Last month, Tanzania imported 591 military transport vehicles from India in an effort to improve the transport capabilities of the Tanzania People’s Defense Force. In an email interview, Laxman Kumar Behera, a research fellow at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses in New Delhi specializing in the Indian defense industry, explained the dynamics of India’s defense exports. The views expressed are the author’s own. WPR: What are the main countries to which India exports defense products, and what does it sell them? Laxman Kumar Behera: The Indian defense industry mainly exports to Asian and African countries, though it also […]

Among the harshest critics of President Barack Obama’s push for military intervention in Syria are skeptics who question the very foundation of the claim that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons on Aug. 21, the day intelligence agencies in several countries say Syrian forces carried out a massive nerve gas attack. The critics declare themselves unpersuaded by the evidence made public so far and say it simply does not make sense from a tactical and strategic vantage point for Assad to have used the internationally proscribed weaponry. If chemical agents were used, they argue, it makes more sense for […]

Over the weekend, President Barack Obama called for a vote on a proposed United States military strike against Syria, with the administration releasing a draft authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) that served as a starting point for congressional discussion this week. Lawmakers are working to amend the broad language of that draft, with new draft language proposed by the Senate that uses narrower language than in the administration’s draft and places some limits on the authorization to use force. Speaking with Trend Lines on Tuesday, John Bellinger III, an expert in national security law, said the president […]

Mexico’s new president, Enrique Pena Nieto, has promised to move his country down a path of reform. He has already made significant changes to education policy and has outlined major moves in Mexico’s energy sector. Yet promised shifts in security policy have yet to materialize, and skeptics question whether the president’s bold plans will produce lasting changes. This special report looks at Mexico’s chances for reform under Pena Nieto. Governance A More Ambitious Vision for MexicoBy Antonio GarzaFebruary 20, 2013 At Long Last, Mexico’s Bright FutureBy Frida GhitisJanuary 3, 2013 Mexico’s Peña Nieto Will Have Trouble Keeping Reform PromisesBy David […]

The extent of history-altering decisions often isn’t evident until after the fact. Who could have guessed, for instance, that George H.W. Bush’s decision to oppose Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 would lead the United States into a global war with al-Qaida and a second, even costlier conflict in Iraq? On rare occasions, though, the importance of a decision is apparent even before it is made with finality—the big picture clearly lurking behind the closer, more immediate one. Deciding whether to attack Syria’s Assad regime for the large-scale use of chemical weapons against civilians is just such a choice, […]

Since early 2013, the rate of border skirmishes between the Pakistani and Indian militaries has accelerated. Though the incidents have been scattered and casualties few, they represent an uptick from 2012: Thus far in 2013 there have been 42 cease-fire violations along the Line of Control (LoC), while in all of 2012 there were only 28. The increased military activity on the border has elicited accusations from both sides, even during a time of increased dialogue and political moves toward greater cooperation. The border incidents have also prompted international concern about the future of Kashmir and stability in the region […]

TIMBUKTU, Mali—The ancient desert town of Timbuktu, like much of northern Mali, is struggling to recover from the effects of a yearlong rebel occupation. Banks, schools, gas stations and other public services in the “city of 333 saints” are still inoperative but are expected to resume full operation as soon as Mali’s new head of state is sworn in on Sept. 4. The inauguration will nominally end the political drama of the past year and a half, but the deep-rooted crisis that gave birth to a self-declared independent state in Mali’s north will remain. Timbuktu fell into rebel hands on […]

The impending U.S. military strike against Syria due to the Syrian army’s massive use of chemical weapons against innocent civilians underscores the difficulties involved in using military force in such situations. It would be far better and less costly to strengthen the Chemical Weapons Convention and other nonproliferation tools than to apply military power to eliminate rogue states’ existing chemical weapons (CW) materials or try to limit their use. Obama administration officials have cited various reasons for launching a limited attack: to punish the Syrian government for its past CW use; to deter further use; and, in case deterrence fails, […]