Blast Rocks Minsk Metro Near Lukashenko Office, Rouble Down By a Third against the Dollar, Lukashenko Says West “Trying to Strangle Belarus With a Slipknot”, Russia to Deliver More S-300 Air Defense Systems to Belarus, Seeks to Expand Its Customs Union, Kremlin Joy as Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan Sign up, Putin Urges Ukraine to Join New Space Center Project, Poland-Lithuania Relationship in Downward Spiral, Russia-Poland Rapprochement against a Backdrop of Contradictions, Moscow’s Star On Rise Again In Kyrgyzstan, Armenia Agrees Long-Term Russian Army Presence Boosting Moscow’s Military Influence in the South Caucasus Region, Turkey “Will Defend Rights of Azerbaijan”, Georgia Annuls Russian Military Transit Agreement, Saudi-Born Militant Killed in Chechnya, Israel Claims Russian Missile Hit School Bus, FSB Calls for Skype Gmail Ban in Russia
Belarus: Blast Rocks Minsk Metro Near Lukashenko Office
Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko says 11 people were killed and hundreds injured in an explosion in the metro system of the capital, Minsk.
He called for a moment of silence to honour those killed in the blast, which struck a metro station close to his main office and residence.
[...] Mr Lukashenko said it was aimed at undermining “peace and stability”.
And he hinted at foreign involvement, linking the explosion to a blast at a concert in 2008 in which about 50 people were injured.
“These are perhaps links in a single chain. We must find out who gained by undermining peace and stability in the country, who stands behind this,” Mr Lukashenko said.
“I do not rule out that this [blast] was a gift from abroad.”
Continue Reading >> BBC News | April 11, 2011
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Belarus Rouble Plunges in Setback for Lukashenko
The Belarussian rouble BYR= lost more than a third of its value against the dollar on Wednesday after the central bank introduced a free floating exchange rate for trade between banks.
The development starkly highlighted the currency problems of the ex-Soviet republic and amounted to a setback for President Alexander Lukashenko who was due on Thursday to deliver his annual state of the nation speech.
Continue Reading >> Reuters | April 20, 2011
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President Lukashenko says West trying ‘to strangle’ Belarus
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday Western countries are preparing direct interference in his country’s affairs and are trying “to strangle the country with a slipknot.”
“First there were political threats, disavowal of [presidential] elections, [European] entry bans and economic sanctions. Then there was an instigation of turmoil on our foreign currency market and dances on the bones after the blast at the Oktyabrskaya metro station,” Lukashenko said addressing the parliament and his people.
Continue Reading >> RIA Novosti | April 21, 2011
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Russia to Deliver More S-300 Air Defense Systems to Belarus
Russia will continue deliveries of S-300 air defense systems to Belarus, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Wednesday.
Belarus has several battalions equipped with Russian-made S-300 air defense systems on combat duty as part of the Russian-Belarusian integrated air defense network.
Continue Reading >> Democratic Belarus | April 21, 2011
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Kremlin joy as Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan sign up for customs union
A post-Soviet customs bloc has received a major boost after the decision by Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan to sign up for membership.
Continue Reading >> Tribune Magazine | April 20, 2011
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Putin Urges Ukraine To Join New Russian Space Center Project
Ukraine should participate in the construction of the Vostochny Space Center in Russia’s Far East, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in Kiev on Tuesday. Russia currently uses two launch sites: Baikonur in Kazakhstan, which it has leased since the end of the Soviet Union, and Plesetsk in northwest Russia.
Putin said construction work at the new space center had already started.
“You can join at the first stage,” the prime minister said at a meeting with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
Yanukovych, in response, said there were good prospects for Russian-Ukrainian space cooperation.
Continue Reading >> News One | April 13, 2011
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Poland-Lithuania Relationship in Downward Spiral
Relations between Poland and Lithuania deteriorated to a new low when Poland summoned its neighbor’s ambassador to express anger over what it called “the atmosphere of hostility” toward the Polish minority in Lithuania.
Continue Reading >> The Wall Street Journal | April 20, 2011
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Russia-Poland rapprochement against a backdrop of contradictions
[...] However, these changes in rhetoric have not caused any change in the two states’ strategic priorities. On the eve of the NATO summit in Lisbon (19-20 November 2010) President Komorowski confirmed the inviolability of the basic principles of Polish foreign policy, namely: the perception of Russia as a potential threat; assistance in preserving U.S. military presence in Europe, and assistance in integrating former Soviet republics into “Transatlantic institutions.” During the Warsaw meeting Komorowski also added that Poland would only countenance cooperation with Russia in the broader context of relations with the EU and NATO. Besides, Warsaw did not withdraw from the plan to allow U.S. TMD systems to be based on its territory or “the promotion of democracy” in Ukraine and Belarus. Such moves prompted hesitant but harsh criticism from Russia.
Continue Reading >> RIA Novosti | April 19, 2011
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Russia’s Star On Rise Again In Kyrgyzstan
Outside forces have competed for influence in Kyrgyzstan since the vacuum left by the Soviet Union’s collapse two decades ago.
Kyrgyzstan allowed the United States to use its Manas airport for supporting efforts in Afghanistan and eagerly welcomed Chinese investment. Bishkek also granted Russia use of an air base at Kant. Kyrgyz policy appeared to play one power off against another.
For a time, Russia’s power appeared to be on the wane. But the overthrow of Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev’s regime a year ago might have paved the way for Moscow’s resurgence.
Continue Reading >> Eurasianet | April 9, 2011
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Armenia Agrees Long-Term Russian Army Presence
Armenia’s parliament on Tuesday ratified a deal to allow Russian troops to remain in the country for more than 30 years, boosting Moscow’s military influence in the strategic South Caucasus region.
Continue Reading >> Hurriyet Daily News | April 12, 2011
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Erdogan says Turkey will defend rights of Azerbaijan
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday Turkey had made commitments to protect rights of Armenian people, however, he added that Turkey would also defend rights of Azerbaijan.
Continue Reading >> World Bulletin | April 13, 2011
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Georgia Annuls Military Transit Treaty with Russia
Georgian Parliament unanimously endorsed on April 19 government’s proposal to annul a five-year agreement with Russia setting out procedures for transit of Russian military personnel and cargo to Armenia via Georgia.
Continue Reading >> Georgian Daily | April 19, 2011
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Saudi militant killed in Chechnya
Officials said the militant known as Moganned had been operating in the northern Caucasus since 1999 and was involved in many bombings.
Continue Reading >> The Taipei Times | April 24, 2011
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Israel claims Russian missile hit school bus
Israel claims anti-tank missile Kornet involved in terror attack originates from Russian factory. Official: It was smuggled into Gaza with Syria, Iran’s help.
Continue Reading >> Ynetnews | April 11, 2011
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Kremlin rejects FSB proposal to ban Skype, Gmail
A Kremlin official has rejected a proposal from within Russia’s main domestic security agency to ban Skype, Gmail and Hotmail as a major threat to national security.
Continue Reading >> The Associated Press | April 9, 2011
Russia Hopes Turkey Will Eventually Give the Green Light to the South Stream Gas Pipeline Project, “Turkey to OK South Stream When Conditions Met”, “Project is Not in the Best Interest of Ukraine and the Country is Working against it”, Iran Plans to Invest $90 Billion in South Pars Gas Field, U.K. Royal Dutch Shell Drilling 17 Gas Wells in China, Beijing Urges Quick End to American-Led Airstrikes in Libya, Considers the Security Situation in the Asia-Pacific as “Volatile”, Points to the U.S. Reinforcement of Military Alliances and Rising Suspicions in the Region, Seeks to Reinforce Trust With Neighbours, Will Stick to a Defensive Military Doctrine, The World’s Largest Arms Importer is Now India Not China, South Korea U.S. Conduct Large Military Exercise in Yellow Sea, Singapore Thailand U.S. Conclude Military Drill, Naval Exercises Between the Philippines and Malaysia, Venezuela’s $15 Billion Weapons Purchase Concerns Latin America, Joint Ghana U.S. Jungle Warfare Exercise Ends
Russia hopes Turkey will approve South Stream
Russia hopes Turkey will eventually give the green light to the section of the South Stream gas pipeline project that crosses its territory, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
Turkey has not given its consent to the laying of part of the 15.5-billion-euro marine pipeline across its Black Sea territory. South Stream is designed to diversify Russian gas export routes, and will stretch to Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast and then on to Italy and Austria.
[...] The land section of the pipeline will go across Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria, with whom Russia has already signed intergovernmental agreements.
Continue Reading >> RIA Novosti | March 22, 2011
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“Turkey to OK South Stream When Conditions Met”
Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said Turkey would still abide by the terms of a 2009 agreement with Russia over a proposed underwater pipeline that will carry natural gas to Europe bypassing Ukraine.
South Stream, controlled by Russian Gazprom and Italian Eni, is planned to carry Russian natural gas under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and on to Europe via Italy and Austria. In an exclusive interview with Today’s Zaman, Yıldız reaffirmed the Turkish position on the $21.5 billion pipeline project called South Stream, saying nothing had changed on the Turkish side. “We are still waiting for the environmental impact studies, as well as feasibility studies, on South Stream to see if the required criteria demanded by Turkey are met. If met, there is no question we would give our approval to the project,” he said.
Continue Reading >> Today’s Zaman | March 26, 2011
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Minister: Ukraine Works Against South Stream
The South Stream natural gas pipeline project is not in the best interest of Ukraine and the country is working against it, according to Ukrainian Minister of Energy Yuriy Boyko.
Boyko said his country is undergoing “tense discussions” with Russia, the main country supporting the project, set to deliver gas to southern and central Europe, bypassing Ukraine.
“South Stream is a political project of our Russian partners, who want to create an excess of transit capacities for gas, like what they did back in the day for oil,” said the Ukrainian minister, quoted by MIGnews.
Boyko said that in collaboration with Ukraine’s “EU partners,” the country will be putting efforts so that in the end the pipeline be not built.
Sofia News Agency | April 2, 2011
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Iran Plans to Invest $90B in South Pars
Iran’s Oil Ministry plans to invest about $90 billion in South Pars gas field in the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21), Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi said.
According to Mirkazemi, about $60 billion of the mentioned amount will be allocated to the upstream projects and about $30 billion to the downstream sector, SHANA News Network reported.
The official also noted that an extra $20 billion will be invested in the petrochemical projects of the giant field.
Mirkazemi further said that the Oil Ministry plans to complete the developing projects of all the remaining phases of the field within 35 months.
The Iranian oil minister also stressed the need for foreign investment in the site to speed up the projects, saying that once all the phases of the South Pars come on stream, the field can produce 25 million cubic meters of natural gas and about 40,000 barrels of liquefied natural gas per day, making the country’s annual revenue from the field hit $110 billion, Press TV reported.
The South Pars gas field is located in the Persian Gulf in the border zone between Iran and Qatar. The field’s reserves are estimated at 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas.
Payvand Iran News | April 1, 2011
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Shell Drilling 17 China Gas Wells
U.K. oil major Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN) is drilling 17 wells in China, including for tight gas and shale gas, Reuters reported Sunday, citing Chief Executive Peter Voser.
If drilling is successful, Shell plans to spend $1 billion a year during the next five year years on shale gas in China, Voser was quoted as saying.
MarketWatch | March 20, 2011
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China Urges Quick End to Airstrikes in Libya
China escalated its opposition to American-led airstrikes on Libya on Tuesday, joining Russia and India in calls for an immediate cease-fire and suggesting that coalition forces were imperiling civilians by exceeding the United Nations-mandated no-fly zone.
[...] China’s response to the campaign has been the most forceful, warning that the assault could bring about a “humanitarian disaster.” In a news briefing Tuesday, Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, called for an end to hostilities. “We’ve seen reports that the use of armed force is causing civilian casualties, and we oppose the wanton use of armed force leading to more civilian casualties,” she said.
China was one of five countries to abstain from the United Nations resolution that authorized the allied airstrikes against the forces of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, which have been seeking to crush a rebellion against his four-decade rule. Russia, Brazil, India and Germany also abstained, while South Africa joined nine other Security Council members in supporting the resolution approved last week.
In its decision to abstain rather than block the resolution through its veto power, China said it was heeding the wishes of the Arab League and the African Union.
Continue Reading >> The New York Times | March 22, 2011
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China to Reinforce Trust With Neighbours
The Chinese government on Thursday said it viewed the security situation in the Asia-Pacific as “volatile”, pointing to the United States “reinforcing” regional military alliances and rising suspicions among China’s neighbours.
In a national defence white paper issued on Thursday, China said it would seek to expand confidence-building measures with its neighbours, as well as stick to a defence policy that was defensive in nature.
The white paper, the seventh that China has issued since 1998, portrayed a strained regional security environment, describing the Asia-Pacific region, in particular, as “volatile.”
“Relevant major powers are increasing their strategic investment,” said the paper. “The United States is reinforcing its regional military alliances, and increasing its involvement in regional security affairs.”
Continue Reading >> The Hindu | March 31, 2011
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The World’s Largest Arms Importer is Now India, Not China
India has spent US$80 billion to modernize its military to keep up with China and now, India has become the world’s number one arms importer according to Swedish think-tank keeping tabs on global arms transactions. India makes up 9 percent of global arms purchases while China has 6 percent of market share in comparison.
“India has ambitions to become first a continental and [then] a regional power,” Rahul Bedi, an analyst with London-based Jane’s Defence Weekly, told AP.
“Just from what they have already ordered, we know that in the coming few years India will be the top importer,” said Siemon Wezeman, a senior fellow at SIPRI told the International Business Times.
SIPRI’s report stated India’s defense budget for the coming fiscal year is in the region of $32.5 billion, 40 percent more than in 2009. In addition, India will spend over $50 billion in the next five years to modernize its military – including purchasing new fighter jets and aircraft carriers.
“The kind of purchases that India is buying, no country in the world buys,” added Bedi of Jane’s Defence Weekly. India has also been importing 82 percent of its weapons from Russia and plans to purchase 250 to 300 advanced fifth-generation stealth fighter jets worth $30 billion in the next decade.
SIPRI also included in its report:
Average volume of global arms transfers in 2006-2010 increased 24 percent from 2001-2005.
Asia and Oceania accounts for 43 percent of arms imports, Europe for 12 percent, 17 percent in the Middle East, 12 percent in the Americas and 7 percent in Africa.
The largest arms importers are locate in Asia with India accounting for 9 percent of all imports, 6 percent in China, 6 percent in South Korea and 5 percent in Pakistan.
USA remains the world’s largest exporter of military equipment and totals 30 percent of global arms exports in 2006-2010; of which 44 percent were exported to Asia and Oceania, 28 percent in the Middle East and 19 percent to Europe.
EconomyWatch | March 30, 2011
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S. Korea, US Conduct Large Military Exercise in Yellow Sea
A large-scale South Korea-U.S. military exercise in the Yellow Sea seeks to prepare for North Korea`s use of nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, submarines and special forces to destroy or blockade major infrastructure in the South.
Continue Reading >> Donga.com | March 24, 2011
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Singapore, Thailand, US Conclude Military Exercise
Singapore, Thailand and the United States concluded the trilateral “Exercise Cope Tiger 2011″ at Korat Air Base in Thailand on Friday.
[...] About 100 aircraft and 34 ground-based air defence systems were deployed.
[...] More than 2,300 personnel took part.
Continue Reading >> Channelnewsasia | March 26, 2011
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Military Exercises Strengthens RP-Malaysian Relations
The ten-day military exercises between the Philippine Navy and the Royal Malaysian Navy, which concluded March 25, has been beneficial to both parties and was a success in its purpose, the Naval Forces West (NFW) claimed. The activity opened on March 16.
Continue Reading >> Zamboanga Today | April 1, 2011
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Hugo Chavez’s $15 Billion Weapons Purchase Concerns Latin America
With the acquisition of hundreds of tanks, helicopters and bulletproof vehicles as well as submarines and missile networks, Venezuela is arming itself at a speed unprecedented in the history of the South American country.
Continue Reading >> McClatchy | March 21, 2011
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Joint Ghana, US Military Exercise Ends
The Africa Partnership Station (APS) 2011 jungle exercise, conducted by personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and the United States Marines, has ended at Achiase Jungle Warfare in the Eastern Region.
[...] The two-week training exercise comprised 100 troops from GAF and 42 US Marines.
Continue Reading >> Vibeghana | March 22, 2011
Iranian Battleships Arrive in Saudi Arabia’s Port City of Jeddah on Route to Gulf of Aden, U.S. Warships Heading to Egypt
Addressing the Navy personnel on the occasion of the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Sayyari said the flotilla, which has been sent to the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian cargo ships against Somali raiders, docked in the Saudi port in order to renew Iran’s message of peace and friendship to the regional states.
[...] He further underlined Iran’s resolve to maintain its powerful and permanent presence in the high seas in a bid to protect the interests of the Islamic Republic and convey the message of peace and security in the sensitive and strategic waters North of the Indian Ocean.
[...] The Iranian Navy dispatched a fleet of warships to the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Aden on a training and operational mission in late January.
In addition to its training program, the fleet is also due to gain good intelligence and information on the regions it is due to visit during the mission.
Continue Reading >> Fars News Agency | February 6, 2011
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Egypt: Will U.S. And NATO Launch Second Suez Intervention?
On February 1 General James Mattis, commander of United States Central Command whose area of responsibility includes Egypt on its western end, stated that Washington currently has no plans to reinforce naval presence off the coast of that country, but added that in the event of the closure of the Suez Canal: “Were it to happen obviously we would have to deal with it diplomatically, economically, militarily.”
[...] The day before Mattis’ statement the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and its carrier strike group [...] crossed through the Strait of Gibraltar from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea on its way to the Suez Canal. The warships are scheduled for operations in the Gulf of Aden off the coasts of Somalia and Yemen and in the Arabian Sea to support the war in Afghanistan.
[...] With the expansion of protests in Egypt calling for the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, the prospect of the Suez Canal being closed would severely hamper Western military operations across the Arabian Sea from Somalia to Pakistan.
[...] Several European oil companies, among them Norway’s Statoil, Royal Dutch Shell and British Petroleum, halted drilling in Egypt, closed down local offices and began evacuating the families of foreign workers as well as non-essential staff.
Continue Reading >> Scoop | February 3, 2011
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Groton Guard Detachment is Heading to Egypt
Connecticut National Guard Detachment 2, Company I, 185th Aviation Regiment of Groton has mobilized and will deploy to the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, to support the Multinational Force and Observers.
[...] The unit will provide an on-demand aviation asset to the Multinational Force and Observers commander to support its mission of supervising the security provisions of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty.
Continue Reading >> The Day Connecticut | January 24, 2011
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EGYPT: Pentagon Moving Warships, Preparing for Possible Evacuations
The Pentagon is moving U.S. warships and other military assets to make sure it is prepared in case evacuation of U.S. citizens from Egypt becomes necessary.
[...] Pentagon officials emphasized that military intervention in Egypt was not being contemplated and that the warships were being moved only for contingency purposes in case evacuations became necessary.
Continue Reading >> Los Angeles Times | February 4, 2011
Russia Plans to Recruit 70 Thousand Military Officers
The Kremlin says it will nearly double the military wages and increase the number of military officers.
Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday police and other law enforcement agencies will also get wage hikes starting next January.
Russia’s Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said that an army lieutenant will get an average monthly wage of 50,000 rubles (about $1,700), about twice as much as the current salary.
He also said that the military will also increase the number of officers. Over the past two years the number of officers was reduced from 355,000 to 150,000.
Serdyukov was quoted by news agencies as saying Wednesday that the armed forces will now need 70,000 more officers because of the plans to form additional units.
The Canadian Press | February 2, 2011
China Got the Technology for its First Stealth Fighter Jet from Russia
China got the technology for its first stealth fighter jet from Russia, a senior US lawmaker said Tuesday, one week after the airplane apparently made its maiden flight.
“My understanding is that they built it on information that they received from Russia, from a Russian plane, that they were able to copy,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon told reporters.
AFP | January 18, 2011
The Middle East’s Turko-Persian Future
The center of gravity in the Middle East has shifted dramatically in the past few decades from the Arab heartland comprising Egypt and the Fertile Crescent to what was once considered the non-Arab periphery — Turkey and Iran. The exciting era of Arab nationalism in the 1950s and 1960s, especially Nasser’s nationalization of the Suez Canal and the all too brief union of Egypt with Syria, had made the Arab heartland the symbol par excellence of the reassertion of the Third World’s dignity and its aspirations for autonomy from the great powers. Since the 1970s, that air of excitement and hope has given way to the moribund nature of Arab politics and the perpetuation of autocratic and kleptocratic rule, which have contributed in large measure to the diminution in the regional role of major Arab states such as Egypt. Regimes that were once considered “liberalizing autocracies”, such as Egypt with its controlled elections and Jordan with an increasingly vocal parliamentary opposition, have now reverted to an unalloyed autocratic model.
This shift in terms of power and influence from the Arab heartland to Turkey and Iran began with the Arab defeat in the Six Day War of 1967 and gained momentum with the Iranian revolution of 1979. One began to see, however, hazily, the contours of the emerging Turko-Persian future of the Middle East in 1991 with the decimation of Iraqi power in the First Gulf War that provided both Iran and Turkey political space to increase their influence in the Persian Gulf and Iraqi Kurdistan respectively. It became a full-blown reality following the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq by the United States and its allies between 2001 and 2003.
Foreign Policy | January 11, 2011
China and America: A second Cold War?
The Obama administration is working to maintain positive US-china relations; however the nation remains a serious enemy in the minds of many American politicians.
To make matters more contentious, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced $78 billion cuts to the Pentagon budget and is currently on a trip to China. Those who see China as a greater threat argue cuts will damage America security and what is really needed are boosts in US defense spending.
Journalist Pepe Escobar from the Asia Times explained that the Pentagon, from a Chinese perspective, can easily be conceived as a threat, but not the other way around.
US forces are based in South Korea, Japan and other parts of Asia, as well as Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and the Indian Ocean. US military expansion in Asia is ongoing through regions strategically important to China.
Russia Today | January 11, 2011
China Considers Buying European Debt
Analyst Marko Papic examines speculation that China is considering buying European outstanding debt in 2011.
Stratfor | January 3, 2011
Turkey Upset Over Israel-Cyprus Maritime Border Demarcation Deal
An agreement meant to prevent disputes over oil and gas fields may stir diplomatic crisis in Mediterranean: Turkish sources said Sunday that Foreign Ministry officials had summoned Israel’s Ambassador to Turkey Gabby Levy and expressed discontent over an agreement signed between Israel and Cyprus, which demarcates the exclusive economic zone within the territorial waters of the two countries and divides their rights to search for oil and gas reservoirs in the Mediterranean Sea.
According to a report published by a Turkish website, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan firmly opposes any maritime agreement between Cyprus and countries in the eastern Mediterranean, because it undermines the status of Turkish Cyprus and its stake of the territorial waters.
During the meeting with Levy, officials at the Turkish Foreign Ministry stressed that “Turkey opposes the agreement until a just and inclusive solution is reached in the Cyprus conflict.”
Turkey is the only country in the world that recognizes Turkish Cyprus.
The report also stated that Turkey would not hesitate sending its naval forces to the area, in order to thwart any oil field exploration.
According to the report, Turkey sees any such maritime agreement futile as long as there is no comprehensive peace agreement between Israel, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinians.
Ynet News | December 19, 2010
Russian Warships Visit Sri Lanka, Heading to Gulf of Aden
A Pacific Fleet’s task force led by the Admiral Vinogradov destroyer will complete on Saturday a three-day visit to Sri Lanka and head to the Gulf of Aden to fight sea piracy in the region.
The visit to the port of Colombo coincided with the 60th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s Navy.
“During the friendly stay the Russian sailors visited the mayor’s office and several military facilities,” a spokesman for Russia’s Pacific Fleet said.
The Admiral Vinogradov destroyer is accompanied on the current mission by a salvage tug and the Pechenga tanker.
The task force is to replace the naval group led by Northern Fleet’s Admiral Levchenko Udaloy class guided-missile destroyer. The group, which also includes the Olekma tanker and the SB-36 tugboat of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, arrived in the Gulf of Aden on July 3.
The Russian Navy has maintained a presence off the Horn of Africa since October 2008, with warships operating on a rotation basis.
RIA Novosti | December 11, 2010
Russia Warns Poland Against Hosting US F-16 Fighter Jets
Russia on Dec. 9 warned Poland against hosting U.S. F-16 fighter jets, possibly from 2013, saying it would work to counter the move.
Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich announced last month that his country would accept a U.S. proposal to host rotations of F-16 and Hercules transport aircraft and their crews on its territory.
Defence Talk | December 10, 2010
Congo Asks Turkey to Train Senior Military Officers
Congolese defense minister asked Turkey to train its senior officers. Charles Mwando Nsimba, the minister of national defense and veterans of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, paid a visit to Turkey’s National Defense Ministry in Ankara and met National Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul.
During the meeting, Nsimba said his country was willing to sign an agreement with Turkey and train Congolese senior officers in Turkey on using military equipment.
Nsimba said the experiences of Turkish army would strengthen them. Moreover, Gonul said Nsimba and he would debate bilateral relations, and military and defense industry issues. Gonul said two countries would sign a framework military agreement soon.
Nsimba is also expected to visit Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation and Defense Industry Undersecretariat.
Cumhuriyet | November 23, 2010
U.S. and Iranian Strategic Competition
The current strategic landscape in the Gulf is shaped by a competition between Iran, Iraq, the US, and the individual Southern Gulf states for influence in the military, political, and economic realms. Iran is making broad efforts to expand its influence over the entire Gulf, as well as to deter US military action, reduce US influence, and establish itself as the dominant power in the region. In recent years, Iran has pursued this strategy by building up its capability to pose a missile, nuclear, and asymmetric threat; exploiting the Arab-Israeli conflict; attempting to discredit the US; expanding its influence over Iraq’s Shi’ites; and by making direct country-to-country contacts with each of its Southern Gulf neighbors designed to increase its influence and leverage.
The report shows that the US has sought to contain Iran, and limit its influence over the Southern Gulf countries, by strengthening relations with each Arab Gulf state, working with allies like France and Britain, by helping to negotiate an Arab-Israeli peace, and by establishing a mix of US, Iraqi, and Southern Gulf capabilities for deterrence and defense that will contain Iran. As part of this effort, the US seeks to limit Iran’s ability to use its political influence, ties to other regional states, influence over Iraq, exploitation of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and capabilities for asymmetric warfare to dominate the region.
Saudi Arabia is now the most important US ally in the Gulf, and will remain so as long as Iraq’s political and strategic alignments are uncertain- and Iraq remains a weak power caught up in its own internal struggles. This does not mean that Saudi Arabia’s interests always coincide with those of the US: they do not. It does mean that the US and Saudi Arabia share a common interest in limiting and containing Iran, and in ensuring the security of the Gulf and the stable flow of Gulf oil exports.
This relationship is reinforced by a long history of US and Saudi military cooperation and the US role in arming and developing Saudi forces. Furthermore, both nations have a common interest in dealing with the challenges of terrorism, the problems posed by Yemen, and the growing instability in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea. While both countries are divided in their approach to resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict, they share a common interest in ending it and removing it as a cause for extremist action and a political tool that Iran can exploit in dealing with Lebanon, the Palestinians, and Arab popular anger.
The end result is a complex set of relations shaped by Saudi competition with Iran and the factors that shape Saudi cooperation with US policy, by US policy towards Saudi Arabia and how it uses this policy to confront Iran, and finally, by Iranian policy towards Saudi Arabia and how it also uses bilateral relations to compete with the US.
Strategic completion in the Gulf, then, plays out with the US and Saudi on one side, and Iran on the other, each side seeking to advance their interests in each separate Gulf country based on the complex political context there. However, the smaller GCC countries display various levels of support for each side and play distinctly different roles in this competition:
Kuwait is most similar to Saudi Arabia in its approach to US-Iranian strategic competition. It considers Iran a serious threat to its stability because of its perceived interference in Kuwait’s Shi’ite population, its growing military capabilities, and its nuclear program. Kuwait is one of the US’s major military allies in the region, and cooperates with the US on a number of levels, including providing essential bases for US troops.
Bahrain, with a Sunni elite and a majority Shi’ite population, feels threatened by perceived Iranian meddling within the disaffected Shi’ite population. It tempers this threat by maintaining strong political and security relations with both the US and Saudi Arabia. It is the home to the 5th Fleet headquarters and receives major US military funding.
UAE practices a more nuanced approach because of the difference in perceptions of Iran in each Emirate. The dispute for control over the islands of Abu Musa and the Tunbs shapes perceptions of Iran everywhere except in Dubai. Dubai maintains positive relations with Iran because of shared financial and trade networks. The UAE is also using its wealth to purchase advanced weapons from the US, and likewise strengthen its security ties to the US.
Oman has a unique role in the region. It is generally accommodating towards Iran, has tensions with Saudi Arabia, close ties to the UK, and serves as a major strategic ally for US military and diplomatic interests. As a result, it often plays the role of intermediary and has some diplomatic leverage over Iran.
Qatar has exploited the strategic competition between US and Saudi interests and Iranian interests in order to create an independent role in the region. Within this role, it tilts more towards Iran than Saudi Arabia while also hosting major US military bases to deter Iranian pressure.
Yemen is increasingly a broken state whose regime is too caught up in internal issues and threats to pay a significant role in the competition. However, a variety of factors make it strategically important, although often as a liability rather than an asset. Both Iran and the US accuse the other side of meddling in Yemen’s internal affairs but both desire some level of stability there.
As the US strengthens its military partnership with the individual Gulf states in an effort to both decrease the threat of terrorist activity and to combat Iranian influence, the strategic competition with Iran will continue to heat up. This competition in the Gulf is subject to a number of variables in the current political system, including the character of the future Iraqi government, the effect of international sanctions on Iran’s policy calculus, Saudi succession, developments in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and global economic stability.
In spite of these variants, it seems likely that the competition will play out in much the same way as it has in recent years. Bilateral relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia will be characterized by public accommodation and underscored by fundamental distrust and competition in the economic, political, and military realms. Iran will continue to exploit divisions between the other Southern Gulf states in order to gain influence and undermine the US policy of military and security cooperation in the Gulf.
The US will continue to strengthen its military partnership with Saudi Arabia based on their mutual interest in deterring the Iranian threat to the Gulf’s economic stability. In order to achieve this, the US will continue to supply the Saudis with counters to Iran’s growing naval asymmetric and missile capabilities. However, the US will simultaneously seek to avoid arming the Saudis at the expense of other Arab Gulf countries, or Israel. As a result, the stepping up of arms deals with Saudi Arabia will be followed by a series of deals with other Gulf allies, including the likely provision of the THAAD missile system to the UAE, and ongoing cooperation with all Gulf states to increase security cooperation.
What is not clear, however, is how or if Iranian foreign policy calculus will change in response to these developments, international sanctions, or domestic pressure. What is clear is that Iran and both the US and Saudi Arabia have legitimate and structural grounds for competition in Iraq, both economically and militarily. It is unlikely that these grounds for competition will disappear in the near future, and as a result, Iran will continue to compete with both the US and Saudi Arabia for influence in the region.
The full report: U.S. and Iranian Strategic Competition
CSIS | December 6, 2010
Israel Steps up Military Training Activities in Greece
Greece is the new foreign training zone for the Israeli air force, following the severance of the defence ties between Israel and Turkey.
The air force had over the recent years conducted training deployments in Turkey, up to sending full squadrons to Turkish air force bases.
But in the aftermath of the “peace flotilla” that sailed from Turkey to the Gaza strip and was intercepted by Israel’s defence forces, all military ties between the countries have been cut.
In October the air force’s Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow and Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters completed a joint training exercise with the Greek air force. And in late November Israeli aircraft were again flown to Greece for bilateral manoeuvres.
At least four joint exercises combining Greek and Israeli combat aircraft have been performed in recent months, according to sources. The Israeli service is satisfied with the activity performed so far and is planning other deployments in the coming months, they add.
Fight Global | December 6, 2010
Russia plans more foreign naval bases
President Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday that Russia intends to expand the number of its foreign naval bases as it tries to catch up with the military capabilities of the West.
Medvedev conceded at a meeting with Russia’s top brass that the country is losing some of its Soviet-era allies and now more than ever needs to negotiate a series of new foreign base agreements with new partner states.
“Unfortunately, the reality is that a number of our previous opportunities have disappeared,” Medvedev said in televised remarks.
Medvedev said that he now had “certain ideas” about how these could be replaced.
“But for obvious reasons, I will not say them out loud,” he added.
Russia has in the past decade lost several of its most important Soviet-era bases, including in Cuba and Vietnam.
These and other losses have left Russia unable to support major naval exercises, leaving the once-mighty force largely confined to the European seas and Russia’s Pacific coast.
Medvedev admitted that this has left Russia at tremendous disadvantage to Western powers, which have supported and built new bases since the Soviet Union’s collapse.
“In this sense, our current partners have much better conditions because they have put up bases the world over. And they enter them and refuel.”
Russia, meanwhile, has to support all its major sea operations with a fleet of refuelling ships, “which is very expensive and completely inefficient,” Medvedev said.
“All in all, this is a subject demanding careful government involvement,” Medvedev said.
AFP | November 25, 2010
China’s Rise in the Middle East
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was in China this month touting the “new cooperation paradigm” between Ankara and Beijing. Just a week earlier, a top political advisor to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao spent five days in Syria signing deals and planting olive trees in the Golan Heights. The Middle Kingdom, it seems, is planting deep roots in the Middle East these days.
The reach of the People’s Republic is far and wide, extending from the Far East to Africa to Latin America, and its interest in the Middle East is neither new nor surprising: China gets more than a quarter of its oil imports from the Persian Gulf and has billions invested in Iran’s oil sector. Recently, though, Beijing appears to be making greater headway, a development fueled by Washington’s creeping withdrawal from the region.
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy | November 16, 2010
Chinese-built port in Sri Lanka fuels Indian fears
Port in Hambantota, Sri Lanka is latest in string of deepwater ports built with Chinese aid along Indian ocean coast.
A vast new Chinese-built and funded port was inaugurated today in the far south of Sri Lanka, fuelling the growing concern of neighbours India that they are being encircled by Beijing.
The deep-water facility at Hambantota on the south coast of the island was officially opened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to kick off spectacular festivities celebrating the official start of his second term in office.
The Mahinda Rajapaksa port, built by Chinese labourers and engineers in a turn-key operation funded by soft Chinese loans, lies in the political heartland of Rajapaksa who, though controversial in the west for his alleged involvement in human rights abuses and autocratic style, remains popular among rural constituencies and the Sinhalese ethnic majority in the island nation. A traditional sailing yacht was the first vessel to dock in the port, followed by a cruise ship with dozens of saffron-robed Buddhist monks chanting prayers on its deck.
Sri Lanka is the focus of a contest for influence between Delhi and Beijing. India is particularly concerned about the so-called “string of pearls” – a chain of deepwater ports built with Chinese aid along the Indian ocean coast. “India should be closely monitoring developments like this which attest to a growing Chinese presence in the neighbourhood,” said Uday Bhasker, a former India navy commodore.
However, Professor Srikanth Kondapalli, of Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, said Beijing’s priority was to safeguard its access to oil: “China imports 200m tonnes of oil each year and 80% of that travels across the Indian Ocean. They have therefore developed a series of major ports and in the future could potentially position naval military craft.”
According to Sri Lankan government spokesmen, the aim of the port was “to capitalise on the opportunity that is offered by the island’s new era of peace to bring prosperity to all.”
Since the end of the 25 year civil war against separatists from the nation’s Tamil minority last year, the economy has boomed. A massive influx of foreign capital – and tourists – is expected with income for many Sri Lankans predicted to double in the next five or ten years.
Rajapaksa, who turned 65 today, is hoping to turn Sri Lanka into a major transport and trade hub and a luxury tourist destination. The former lawyer has announced that Hambantota will bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The Guardian | November 18, 2010
Pakistan Ready to Hand Arabian Sea Port to China
Pakistan is seeking to cancel a management contract with Singapore’s PSA International for a Chinese-funded port in the northern Arabian Sea in what could be the first step towards transferring it to Beijing’s control, a senior Pakistan government official told Jane’s on 11 November.
Taking control of Gwadar port would give China a friendly deep-water facility on the edge of the world’s busiest oil shipping lanes. Chinese control of Gwadar port would also give People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels a safe haven in a friendly country in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
Though it may be several years before PLAN vessels regularly sail to the IOR, a senior Pakistani government official in Islamabad told Jane’s : “China’s access to control Gwadar will be the first step towards meeting long-term ambitions.”
Cancelling the existing contract would be controversial, not least because PSA International signed a 40-year deal in 2007. Pakistani officials argue that PSA has failed to fulfil promises to develop the facility, which is about 700 km west of Karachi but only 80 km east of the Iranian border.
“We have detected lapses and therefore want to move ahead to formally consider cancelling this contract,” said the official, who wished to remain anonymous, adding that a Chinese firm “will be the likely future operator of this facility. There are lots of interests that tie Pakistan and China together”.
On 8 November a second senior official in Islamabad told Jane’s that Pakistan expects China to invest “over the long term” in the “laying down of a railway line [and] a road network” to its border with northern Pakistan. These transport links would allow China to significantly reduce travel time for travellers and exports from its northern Xinjiang region to the Middle East, via Gwadar.
This summer, Pakistani naval officials revealed discussions with China over the joint development of future submarines, which if agreed would be the latest in a series of joint ventures. They include the F-22P frigate programme, the JF-17 Thunder aircraft, the Al-Khalid I main battle tank and development of an airborne early warning and control aircraft.
Pakistan is keen to purchase more submarines in response to what defence planners say is a growing threat to the country’s interests in the IOR, where India has announced significant expansions to its naval facilities. Though Pakistan has sounded out French and German submarine manufacturers, financial constraints are believed to have hindered the signing of a deal. By contrast, China has a long-established record of extending generous loans to Pakistan.
Jane’s Defence | November 15, 2010
Sneaking Chinese Subs into Waters off the US West Coast?
Pentagon and its embedded media covering up Chinese show of force off LA
China flexed its military muscle Monday evening in the skies west of Los Angeles when a Chinese Navy Jin class ballistic missile nuclear submarine, deployed secretly from its underground home base on the south coast of Hainan island, launched an intercontinental ballistic missile from international waters off the southern California coast. WMR’s intelligence sources in Asia, including Japan, say the belief by the military commands in Asia and the intelligence services is that the Chinese decided to demonstrate to the United States its capabilities on the eve of the G-20 Summit in Seoul and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Tokyo, where President Obama is scheduled to attend during his ten-day trip to Asia.
The reported Chinese missile test off Los Angeles came as a double blow to Obama. The day after the missile firing, China’s leading credit rating agency, Dagong Global Credit Rating, downgraded sovereign debt rating of the United States to A-plus from AA. The missile demonstration coupled with the downgrading of the United States financial grade represents a military and financial show of force by Beijing to Washington.
The Pentagon spin machine, backed by the media reporters who regularly cover the Defense Department, as well as officials of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), and the U.S. Northern Command, is now spinning various conspiracy theories, including describing the missile plume videotaped by KCBS news helicopter cameraman Gil Leyvas at around 5:00 pm Pacific Standard Time, during the height of evening rush hour, as the condensation trail from a jet aircraft. Other Pentagon-inspired cover stories are that the missile was actually an amateur rocket or an optical illusion.
Experts agree that this was a ballistic missile being fired off of Los Angeles. Pentagon insists it was a jet aircraft or model rocket.
There are no records of a plane in the area having taken off from Los Angeles International Airport or from other airports in the region. The Navy and Air Force have said that they were not conducting any missile tests from submarines, ships, or Vandenberg Air Force Base. The Navy has also ruled out an accidental firing from one of its own submarines.
Missile experts, including those from Jane’s in London, say the plume was definitely from a missile, possibly launched from a submarine. WMR has learned that the missile was likely a JL-2 ICBM, which has a range of 7,000 miles, and was fired in a northwesterly direction over the Pacific and away from U.S. territory from a Jin class submarine. The Jin class can carry up to twelve such missiles.
Navy sources have revealed that the missile may have impacted on Chinese territory and that the National Security Agency (NSA) likely possesses intercepts of Chinese telemetry signals during the missile firing and subsequent testing operations.
Japanese and other Asian intelligence agencies believe that a Chinese Jin-class SSBN submarine conducted missile “show of force” in skies west of Los Angeles.
Asian intelligence sources believe the submarine transited from its base on Hainan through South Pacific waters, where U.S. anti-submarine warfare detection capabilities are not as effective as they are in the northern and mid-Pacific, and then transited north to waters off of Los Angeles. The Pentagon, which has spent billions on ballistic missile defense systems, a pet project of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, is clearly embarrassed over the Chinese show of strength.
Likely route of Jin-class submarine from Hainan base (Map).
The White House also wants to downplay the missile story before President Obama meets with his Chinese counterpart in Seoul and Tokyo. According to Japanese intelligence sources, Beijing has been angry over United States and allied naval exercises in the South China and Yellow Seas, in what China considers its sphere of influence, and the missile firing within the view of people in Southern California was a demonstration that China’s navy can also play in waters off the American coast.
For the U.S. Navy, the Chinese show of force is a huge embarrassment, especially for the Navy’s Pacific Command in Pearl Harbor, where Japan’s December 7, 1941 attack on the fleet at Pearl Harbor remains a sore subject.
In 2002, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice reportedly scolded visiting Chinese General Xiong Guankai, the deputy chief of staff for intelligence of the People’s Liberation Army, for remarks he allegedly made in 1995 that China would use nuclear weapons on Los Angeles. Xiong denied he made any such comments but the “spin” on the story helped convince Congress to sink billions of additional dollars into ballistic missile defense, sometimes referred to at “Star Wars II.”
Wayne Madsen Report | November 11, 2010
India, Saudi Arabia to Hold Military Exercises
It is reported that the Indian Army is expected to hold joint military exercises in Saudi Arabia with the Royal Saudi Land Force in March 2011. India will also construct a mountain warfare training school to help Riyadh improve their offensive and defensive capabilities.
In recent years India and Saudi Arabia have deepened their relationship with bilateral high-level visits, intelligence sharing and counter-terror efforts. Saudi Arabia’s Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud is expected to visit India in March 2011 and interact with the Indian leadership. Prince Turki, nephew of King Abdullah who heads an influential think tank in Riyadh, is regarded as one of the architects behind the Afghan resistance against Soviet occupation in the late 1980s.
Growing India-Saudi Arabia ties are said to be a result of behind-the-scenes manoeuvring by the United States.
India Defence | November 9, 2010
Greece Raising Concern About Turkey with U.S.
Greece is raising concern with the United States about Turkey’s growing assertiveness.
In discussions with U.S. defence officials Thursday, Deputy Defence Minister Panos Beglitis planned to highlight incidents of what Greece sees as violations of its airspace and territorial waters by Turkish forces.
In an interview, Beglitis stressed that his government is looking to deepen co-operation with Turkey. But it is concerned about Turkey’s rising power.
“I wonder if my American friends understand the situation,” he said.
The mixed message on Turkey comes from the government of Prime Minister George Papandreou, whose diplomacy in an earlier stint as foreign minister led to a dramatic improvement in relations with Ankara after decades of mistrust and conflict. But Turkey’s rise in economic and military power is changing the dynamic.
“They want to play a wider political role in the region,” Beglitis said. “It is a profound transformation.”
Beglitis said his country is also working to deepen ties with Israel and improve defence co-operation. The outreach comes at a time of heightened friction between Israel and Turkey. Beglitis was also meeting with members of the American Jewish Committee, while in Washington.
Yahoo News | November 5, 2010
China Conducts a Massive Live-Fire Naval Drill Involving 100 Ships in South China Sea
China’s Marine Corps held major naval exercises on Tuesday in the South China Sea, state-run media reported on Wednesday, massing 1,800 troops and more than 100 ships, submarines and aircraft for a live-fire display of the nation’s growing military power.
The waters have been the scene of increased tensions between China and its neighbors this year over competing claims to islands and seabed mineral rights. But one prominent Chinese military analyst called the war games a routine annual event that was unrelated to those claims or recent American moves to shore up diplomatic ties with nations in the region.
The exercises, code-named Jiaolong 2010, were viewed by 200 military students from 40 nations who discussed the maneuvers with Chinese commanding officers, the Communist Party newspaper Global Times reported.
The newspaper quoted an unnamed officer as saying that the exercises were staged to showcase the marines, part of the People’s Liberation Army, and to gain advice from other nations’ militaries. It also quoted one military analyst, Li Jie, as saying that the maneuvers were staged in part because unnamed nations had intervened in the sea in recent years, “so it’s time to oppose these intervention with power politics.”
Chinese military officials accused the Pentagon of threatening China this summer after the United States announced plans to move an aircraft carrier into the Yellow Sea, not 400 miles from Beijing, for joint exercises with South Korea. In a conciliatory gesture, the Navy moved the exercises to the Sea of Japan.
But Chinese acrimony — which had flared early in the year when the United States announced a $6.7 billion deal to sell weapons to Taiwan — was only heightened by an American offer to mediate the territorial disputes over islands in the region. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who made the initial offer, repeated it last week during a stop in Hanoi, rejecting Chinese arguments that Washington was interfering in its diplomatic affairs.
A former submarine officer who is now a leading military analyst on state television, Song Xiaojun, insisted that the Chinese exercises should be taken at face value. “It’s an ordinary exercise,” he said, driven in part by the military’s need to test its rapidly growing arsenal of ships, aircraft and weapons.
“It’s better not to take this as a kind of opposition between different parties,” he said. “It’s not like we’re talking about World War I or World War II, when countries were busy building vessels and competing. Those days are gone.”
David Yang contributed research.
The New York Times | November 3, 2010
France Balances Germany With a British Military Deal
Analyst Marko Papic puts France’s decision to enter into a bilateral military relationship with the United Kingdom in the broader context of Germany’s increasing assertion of power.
Stratfor | November 2, 2010
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