SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
Victory in Syria: But For Whom?
The US White House, under President Barack Obama, was, by the end of May 2013, considering how to begin more direct engagement in the fighting inside Syria.
PERSONNEL
Key Transitions and Defense and Intelligence Appointments - 04/2013
DIPLOMACY, ALLIANCES & TREATIES
CURRENT ESTIMATE | African Union Faces Security Challenges, But Aims for Economic Integration
An Estimate of an area of key current significance
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
Africa: Mali, Nigeria, and the Bigger Picture
The Mali War will be neither simple nor quick, ‘though the players all wish it so.
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
Ain Amenas Incident: Algerie l’Implacable?
The hostage-taking affair at the Ain Amenas natural gas plant showed the Algerian Government as less than a cooperative player in security matters, while breathing new life into the salafist movement.
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
Mali: Center Stage
The international community finally began addressing the issue of Islamist fighters in Mali. This provided an opportunity for Nigeria, in particular, to rebuild its own security and political stability. But there was still no guarantee that the opportunity would be grasped.
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
Mali: Pivotal Point
Paralyzing factors — including Algeria’s secret nuclear program — conspire against addressing Mali’s growing safe-haven for the jihadist fighters who threaten the stability of West Africa’s energy production, now a pivotal component of US and European requirements.
PERSONNEL
Key Transitions and Defense and Intelligence Appointments - 10/2012
STRATEGY & INTELLIGENCE
Re-Thinking Intelligence in an Age of Budget Decline
Can modern nation-states remain in command of their destinies if, in a time of extreme economic pressure, they fail to totally re-think approaches to intelligence functions?
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
The New 9/11 Attacks: A Self-Fulfilling Prophesy
The surge in jihadist attacks on US diplomatic missions in September 2012 largely obscured the complex realities around a number of individual incidents and locales, particularly with regard to the Libyan situation.
GOVERNANCE & ELECTIONS
A Confluence of Events in the Horn of Africa
The announcement of the death of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi — possibly a month after he actually died — starts to focus the growing confluence of events in the Horn of Africa; events which show a profound watershed in the strategic situation along one of the most significant trade…
GOVERNANCE & ELECTIONS
The Maghreb: Can Libya Repel the Invaders and Survive?
Libyans went, on July 7, 2012, into their first national elections in decades, and foreign observers hailed the fact that democracy had returned to the Maghreb state.