PERSONNEL
CULTURE, PSYCHOLOGY & MEDIA
ESSENTIAL READING | Whither Europe?
STRATEGY & INTELLIGENCE
The RedMed: All Change, Again, on the Red Sea
The People’s Republic of China begins its Djibouti troop deployment as base construction accelerates; meanwhile, Djibouti builds on its rapprochement with Riyadh.
GOVERNANCE & ELECTIONS
STRATEGIC TRAJECTORIES | The US Heads, Without a Plan, Into its Most Vital Election
STRATEGY & INTELLIGENCE
Syria, Russia Dossier II: The Putin-Netanyahu Duet
Israel and Russia continue their strategic cooperation, despite pressures from the Obama White House to force Israel back into rapprochement with Turkey to help preserve energy supplies to that country as it faces a Russian economic sanctions regime.
CULTURE, PSYCHOLOGY & MEDIA
Saudi Arabia Throws Down the Gauntlet, But to Whom?
Saudi Arabia’s theater of mass executions on January 2, 2016, was designed to reinforce the authority of its leadership. It may bolster short-term objectives, but it also ended chances for an early end to the Yemen war; it further damaged relations with the US; and it bolstered Turkey’s and Iran’s…
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
CURRENT ESTIMATE | Weak Point: Boko Haram's Use of Stimulant Drugs
PERSONNEL
Key Transitions and Defense and Intelligence Appointments - 12/2015
GOVERNANCE & ELECTIONS
ESSENTIAL READING | Power and Destiny
STRATEGY & INTELLIGENCE
Russia and Turkey: Not War in the Offing, But Something Far More Important
It is now apparent that Russia can no longer ignore the reality that Turkey will remain the major impediment to Russia's control over its strategic ability to escape the containment of geography as well as geopolitics. The question is: what can it do about it, and when?
SOVEREIGNTY
Break-up: The Medium-Term Prospect for Turkey, Saudi Arabia
The break-up of the United Kingdom as a result of Scottish separatism, or the break-up of Spain due to Catalan secessionism, or of Canada: all can be discussed. But a major challenge of the coming decade or so will be whether Turkey and Saudi Arabia can remain intact as states.
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
Russia, Syria, and the West: Finally at the Crossroads?
Russia has responded strenuously and unambiguously to the US, Turkish, Qatari, and Saudi provocations which began, and sustain, the war — and the Islamic Caliphate — in Syria.