The Revival of Islamic Terror in Africa
On July 11th, Al Shabab, the Somalia-based terrorist organization, killed 76 people watching the World Cup in Uganda. Al Shabab is a growing threat to Somalia, neighboring countries and the United States. It began as an insurgency against the Somali government but has since grown into a dangerous organization which is now capable of attacks [...]
Spy Crisis Raises Questions About U.S. Policy
The recent Russian spy drama has finally come to an end after a prisoner swap in Vienna. Strangely, both sides scrambled to downplay the crisis. When the drama first began, Vladimir Putin strongly criticized the U.S., saying the police were “out of control.” However, he later downplayed the situation, saying, “I really expect that the [...]
Energy Dispute a Reminder About Classic Geopolitics
Beginning around 20 June and ending 24 June, Europe went through a mini natural gas crisis. Russian natural gas giant Gazprom reduced supplies into Belarus by 60% in response to Belarus’ unpaid bill of $192 million. Belarus at first refused to pay and later even offered payment in the form of tradable goods instead of [...]
Hezbollah in the West
Click here to read the published edition of this column in Capital Newspapers.
By Drew Davis, Executive Director
One month ago, the Department of Defense released a report in which intelligence officials said operatives from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps were cultivating terrorist networks in Latin America that “could be called upon to attack the United States [...]
More Ethnic Unrest in Kyrgyzstan
Several months ago, this column reported on the political coup in the central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan. At the time, we illustrated the strategic importance of this country not only to America but also to Russia and neighboring Uzbekistan. American strategic interest is centered on our air base there, used for keeping supplies flowing to [...]
Iran Willfully Circumvents Sanctions
Recently, the New York Times exposed an international cover-up designed by the Iranians to circumvent the sanctions that have been placed upon them by the United Nations. Considering the political climate, the relative weakness of the sanctions, and the fractured nature of the international opinion toward Iran, it is not surprising that Iran is so [...]
Opinions Mixed About Recent American Success Against Al-Qaeda
Very recently, the news wires have been abuzz with speculation and conjecture that al-Qaeda’s third-in-command, Mustafa al-Yazid, aka Saeed al-Masri, has been killed by a CIA drone bombing. While few doubt that the man is in fact dead, or what his position was within al-Qaeda’s hierarchy, the relative importance to the group itself is debatable. [...]
As Missiles Pound Pakistan, Afghan President Gets Fine Treatment
This week’s actions by the Obama administration have quite clearly demonstrated where American attentions lie in the national security and foreign policy realms of government: Southwest Asia. On the same day that drone planes fired 18 missiles at militants in the northern tribal region of Waziristan in Pakistan, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan was welcomed [...]
Nuclear Arms Summit of Questionable Import
On April 12 and 13, the United States hosted a nuclear arms summit. In attendance were heads of state from 47 nations the world over. Leading up to the summit, there was much discussion and speculation as to the reason for and importance of sending so many heads of state to such a summit, because [...]
Kyrgyzstan Revolution Indicator That Russia Is Still a Player
On Wednesday, April 7, 2010, the government of Kyrgyzstan was overthrown after a series of protests became violent and led to the president of the country, Kurmanbek Bakiyev leaving the country. The Prime Minister resigned and turned power over to the country’s former Foreign Minister, Roza Otunbayeva.
Kyrgyzstan is a small, mountainous country located on China’s [...]
