Special to WorldTribune.com by Dr. Jack Caravelli, Geostrategy-Direct Russian president Vladimir Putin’s use of Russian conventional forces to destabilize Ukraine and prop up Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime certainly got the attention of Western analysts and policy makers. But now, Russia’s nuclear forces are undergoing dramatic modernization. Russia’s strategic modernization march has been impressive, including […]
Special to WorldTribune.com by Dr. Jack Caravelli, Geostrategy-Direct The successful March 22 terrorist attacks on the Brussels airport and a city subway station add to Europe’s growing list of cities — including Paris, London and Copenhagen — unable to deflect such attacks. The terrorists appear to have been four young men with Middle Eastern backgrounds […]
Special to WorldTribune.com by Dr. Jack Caravelli, Geostrategy-Direct In another example of the Obama administration’s unwillingness to delegate authority and its inability to form a cohesive policy on fighting ISIL, Secretary of State John Kerry has publicly contradicted the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford. Kerry has laid out U.S. strategy […]
Special to WorldTribune.com by Dr. Jack Caravelli, Geostrategy-Direct Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, met in Paris on Jan. 22 with his French counterpart, Gen. Pierre de Villiers, chief of France’s defense staff to discuss planning for a joint operation against Islamic jihadists operating in Libya. The two military leaders […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Backgrounder, Geostrategy-Direct.com Djibouti, a former French colony, is a country of searing heat (summer temperatures average over 100 degrees) and little rain (17 days a year on average). The population of the East African state is 900,000, which ranks 159th in the world. But the tiny state on the Horn of […]
Special to WorldTribune.com by Dr. Jack Caravelli, Geostrategy-Direct Dore Gold, the Director General of Israel’s foreign ministry and a highly experienced diplomat, in late December gave the ministry’s first ever interview to a Saudi media outlet. Speaking to the Saudi-owned online newspaper Elaph, Gold emphasized the common interests Israel and Saudi Arabia have in blunting […]
Special to WorldTribune.com by Dr. Jack Caravelli, Geostrategy-Direct Russian President Vladimir Putin, once derided by Barack Obama as presiding over a “regional power,” is demonstrating Russia’s global reach not only in Syria and Ukraine but with new economic and political initiatives involving Pakistan. Putin was in Islamabad, this fall meeting with senior Pakistani officials to […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Backgrounder, Geostrategy-Direct.com Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) has developed a multi-pronged approach that has enabled the terror organization to survive Russian and U.S.-led coalition air strikes. Experts say ISIL uses air raid sirens, tunnels, Internet security checks to weed out spies and has moved most of its control posts […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Backgrounder, Geostrategy-Direct.com Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) is massing thousands of jihadists on the northern border of Afghanistan for incursions into Central Asia, Russian intelligence officers said. Taliban fighters have also pledged allegiance to ISIL and are ready to join the battle as the jihadists pass through weak border […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Backgrounder, Geostrategy-Direct.com The “Obama doctrine” in the Middle East is coming apart at the seams a year after the U.S. president laid out his strategy in a speech at West Point. American-supported and trained forces in Iraq have managed a stalemate, at best, against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) […]