The partial cease-fire brokered and imposed by Russia and Turkey, with Iran’s concurrence, on Assad and the ‘moderates’, might mark a turning point in Syria’s tortuous journey since 2011.
A standalone visit to Israel will not only be in line with Modi’s engagement with the Middle East but would also send a powerful message to the international community that India is no longer apologetic about befriending Israel.
Higher Defence Management, Civil-military relations and force modernisation were three critical areas in which there was little or no movement in the year gone by.
While it was difficult to delve into the depth of the country’s internal dynamics, the overall impression one got was that the democratic process is making marked progress, albeit as per Uzbekistan’s own political ethos and traditions.
While the Manipur government’s decision to create seven new districts has come in the wake of popular demands for improved administrative efficiency, there has been fierce opposition from Naga bodies which view it as an attempt to divide the Naga people
While the larger air forces are capable of sustaining their existing and future inventories for some time to come, the combat assets available to the region’s smaller air forces are facing a problem of pending obsolescence.
In the wake of Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president, Japan is weighing the geopolitical and geo-economic implications of the new economic and security policies that his administration may adopt.
While the creation of seven new smaller districts has led to agitations by the United Naga Council, efficiencies in administrative tasks should be obtainable with district headquarters closer to the respective inhabitants.
Given that both India and Indonesia have a common interest in preserving their respective democratic, multi-ethnic and multi-religious polities, they need to work together to induce Myanmar to control the violence against the Rohingyas.
The Jamaican Defence Forces have retained their cutting edge due to a skillful balancing of priorities with resources, the weak economy notwithstanding.
Brexit, the results of the elections held in Italy and Austria on December 4, 2016, and certain related recent developments in Europe raise questions about the future of the Union.
A careful reading of the report of the deliberations of the UNGA on November 7, 2016 would suggest that nothing has changed at the ground level; only the rhetoric of member states has been amplified.
The Army needs to comprehensively review the existing SoP for this exercise, liaise with MORTH and NHAI and jointly develop a software which can generate traffic data reports that would be accurate and useful for its planning purposes.
The November elections in Kuwait have thrown up some intriguing scenarios. Having won nearly half the seats, if the opposition groups decide to unite under one banner and insist on taking on the government, the possibility of a fresh stalemate in the country cannot be ruled out.
Although President-elect Trump has declared his intention to deregulate the fossil fuel sector in order to make America less energy import dependent, but over time, this will lead to an increase in supplies in an already over-supplied oil (and gas) market and send prices into a further downward spiral.
Terrorists pursuing an atavistic agenda through the brutal killing of common people are not performing jihad. They only seek to legitimize their vile acts in the name of Islam.
The capabilities of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force will be significantly boosted in the current phase of modernisation but the air wing still lacks resources.
