Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John F. Sopko, who took over on July 2, 2012, has made significant progress in the short period of time he has been in charge. In October, a SIGAR investigation found that an Afghan contractor had “failed to install metal grates to prevent …
Three Arab kingdoms in the Persian Gulf region have been confronted with the destabilizing fallout of growing political tensions in recent days. On Monday, a series of bombings in Bahrain’s capital of Manama killed two men, an ominous sign that the struggle between the island nation’s predominantly Sunni ruling elite …
In yet another attempt to counter the mounting evidence against the Obama Administration in the handling of the September 11 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, the CIA last Friday leaked a timeline of events to foreign policy columnist David Ignatius. The CIA version makes its actions seem appropriate if insufficient. …
On November 6, Russian President Vladimir Putin sacked Defense Minister Anatoly E. Serdyukov, who has held the post since 2007. Serdyukov had overseen the largest and most radical military reform of the Russian armed forces since the creation of the Red Army in 1918. Under Serdyukov, a former furniture businessman …
As members of the Economic Community of West African States and the African Union scramble to find a solution to the crisis in Mali, Islamist forces in the north are being strengthened by foreign fighters. Though the occupation of territory by external entities will undoubtedly strengthen the hand of Mali’s …
Last week, India assisted the U.S. in securing dialogue-partner status in the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), a 20-member grouping of littoral nations of the Indian Ocean. India and the U.S.—as well as other Indo-Pacific nations such as Australia, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia—share an interest in maintaining …
On Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton traveled to Algeria to discuss the ongoing security crisis in Mali. Clinton’s visit not only revealed Washington’s increasing openness to military intervention in northern Mali, but it also highlighted Algeria’s regional influence and complicated relationships with its southern neighbors. Since Islamist militants occupied …
The recent layoff of Voice of America (VOA) employees in Russia comes at a time when U.S. international broadcasting is also losing ground to bureaucratic overkill. Despite a continually expanding budget, many mission-critical broadcasting services are being cut, personnel are being let go, and broadcasters are being required to do …
Over the past year, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has managed to antagonize virtually all of its maritime neighbors as ongoing disputes over territorial claims, oceanic borders, and maritime rights have boiled over. None are as potentially dangerous, however, as that between China and Japan, which are becoming ever …
