Caracas (Venezuela), March 5, 2014. The Foreign Minister of Ecuador, Ricardo Patiño, participated in the commemoration of the death of Commander Hugo Chávez Frías. Photo: Xavier Granja Cedeño / Ecuador Ministry of Foreign Affairs In her book The Dictator’s Army, Caitlin Talmadge describes the contrast between militaries that condition themselves to fight conventional wars against … Continue reading The Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela and Regime Security: Perspectives from the Inside-Out
Category: Regions
Crowded Waters: Exploring the Implications of Internationalizing Arctic Security
Ice Camp Sargo was the base camp for the 2016 Ice Exercise (ICEX) involving four nations and 200 participants. The exercise sought to test, research and evaluate operational capabilities in the Arctic region. Photo Credit: US Department of Defense. The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet. Those with stakes … Continue reading Crowded Waters: Exploring the Implications of Internationalizing Arctic Security
Shifting Sands: Assessing the likelihood of a US-Iranian War
Iranian protesters burning an American flag. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons. The United States rang in 2020 with a precision drone strike, killing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Commander Qasem Soleimani. Maximum pressure has given way to lethal force, and the region anxiously awaits new developments. The question is whether this move by the Trump Administration … Continue reading Shifting Sands: Assessing the likelihood of a US-Iranian War
Washington’s Overuse of Economic Warfare Threatens American Financial Hegemony
American currency. Photo Credit: Alena Vikhareva/Getty Images. Since World War II, the U.S. has been the most influential actor in the global financial system. It has shaped the world’s economic institutions and norms to suit its own preferences, securing disproportionate power and influence over the global economy. This exclusive position has granted the U.S. an … Continue reading Washington’s Overuse of Economic Warfare Threatens American Financial Hegemony
Iran’s Approach to Deterrence
Iranian skyline with mountains in the background. Photo Credit: Shutterstock. Iran’s approach to deterrence and grand strategy produces threats to different US foreign policy priorities: chiefly, non-proliferation, arms control, and regional stability, making it difficult for the United States to make and build consensus for an effective countering strategy. Iran’s desire to establish a nuclear … Continue reading Iran’s Approach to Deterrence
The Libyan People Need US Support Now More than Ever
General Haftar’s Libyan National Army advances into Tripoli in May 2019. Photo Credit: Reuters, May 4 2019. In October 2019, President Trump announced that US troops would be leaving northern Syria, which caused backlash from politicians and the American public concerned about abandoning US allies. This vacillation in US policy is similar to the current … Continue reading The Libyan People Need US Support Now More than Ever
Assessing China’s Intentions at Sea
The Chinese carrier Liaoning at sea. Photo Credit: CGTN. Many Americans have assumed that China’s development of a carrier fleet is the precursor to Chinese aggression throughout East Asia. However, this view is built on a Western, Mahanian concept of sea power. It is entirely plausible that China’s current carrier fleet, and its navy more … Continue reading Assessing China’s Intentions at Sea
Another Tool in the Toolbox: Using Intermediate-Range Missiles to Counter Chinese A2/AD in the Pacific
The Defense Department conducts a flight test of a conventionally configured ground-launched cruise missile at San Nicolas Island, Calif. Photo Credit: Department of Defense/ Scott Howe. On August 2nd, the State Department issued a press release confirming the withdrawal of the United States from the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty.[i] Initially signed by President Ronald Reagan … Continue reading Another Tool in the Toolbox: Using Intermediate-Range Missiles to Counter Chinese A2/AD in the Pacific
Space-Based Solutions for Closing the Arctic Digital Divide
The ISS flies over the Earth at night. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons. The Arctic is rapidly becoming more accessible due to climate change, bringing with it increased human activity in the form of resource exploration, shipping, tourism, and scientific research. All of this necessitates adequate connectivity capabilities. However, such communications infrastructure development in the polar … Continue reading Space-Based Solutions for Closing the Arctic Digital Divide
Arms Sales, Mercenaries, and Strategic Bombers: Moscow’s Military Footprint in Venezuela
The presidents of Russia and Venezuela discuss bilateral relations. Photo Credit: The Kremlin. During the Cold War, Soviet foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere was based out of Cuba, which housed Soviet naval, ground, and intelligence assets that projected Moscow’s influence in the Americas. The Soviet Union used its position in Cuba to lend support … Continue reading Arms Sales, Mercenaries, and Strategic Bombers: Moscow’s Military Footprint in Venezuela