SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
Pakistan-US relations have revived in a sudden rapprochement based on Islamabad’s determination to reject all — not just some — Taliban, but India now seems determined not to take advantage of this victory, and has returned to a policy of strategic confrontation and escalation against Pakistan.
ASIA
US Pres. Barack Obama’s removal of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and the failure thus far on talks with Iran seem likely to compound US strategic challenges in the coming two years. What is significant is that the issue is not really about nuclear weapons; it is about Iran’s strategic growth.
STRATEGY & INTELLIGENCE
Do sanctions work, or do they exacerbate conflict, in a multi-polar strategic environment? And who suffers most? Could it be the sanctioning states? French Pres. Hollande succumbed — at least temporarily — to US pressure on delivery of Mistral ships to Russia, which pays the price.
GOVERNANCE & ELECTIONS
DIPLOMACY, ALLIANCES & TREATIES
HARDWARE, WEAPONRY & TECHNOLOGY
STRATEGY & INTELLIGENCE
HARDWARE, WEAPONRY & TECHNOLOGY
DIPLOMACY, ALLIANCES & TREATIES
Strategic cyber warfare is set to mimic — on a larger scale — the effects of major natural disasters, while the existing pattern of these disasters in the Indo-Pacific region already preoccupies maritime agencies hampered by political distortions in regional cooperation.
HARDWARE, WEAPONRY & TECHNOLOGY
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
As Turkey slips in terms of NATO reliability, planners look at changing threat and access patterns in the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant.