Walter Laqueur: Europe - Recovery or Collapse?
written by: Dieter Farwick
Apr 23, 2012

once again, BrigGen(ret.) Dieter Farwick, Senior ...more

Germany: Savior or Victim of Europe?
Apr 01, 2012

In his 326 page book “Wege ins Abseits. Wie Deutschland seine Zukunft verspielt” ("How Germany gambles away its Future"), Osning Verlag, ...more

Taliban play the waiting game
written by: Ahmad Noor
Mar 31, 2012

The proposed withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan in 2014 gave the Taliban hope and confidence that they will win in the long run. Earlier in February, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta declared that his country hopes to end its combat role in Afghanistan in mid 2013, more than a ...more

Why Israel should not go to war with Iran
written by: Rene Rieger
Mar 29, 2012

The past months have seen a steady escalation of the Iranian nuclear crisis. As Iran makes progress in developing nuclear technology, which they constantly claim will be used solely for civil purposes, Israel’s diplomatic saber-rattling gets increasingly louder. In the Western world, open discussion ...more

Meet Pastor Gauck, the Anti-communist German President
written by: Ariel Cohen and Nathalie Vogel
Mar 22, 2012

Germany has elected its 11th president: Joachim Gauck (72), a Lutheran pastor and internationally renowned human rights activist. The position of President of the Federal ...more

No Asian Century without the pan-Asian Institution
written by: Anis Bajrektarevic
Mar 21, 2012

For over a decade, many of the relevant academic journals are full of articles prophesizing the 21^st as the Asian century. The argument is usually based on the impressive economic growth, increased production and trade volumes as well as the booming foreign currency reserves and exports ...more

Syrian President may survive for a while but World knows End Game
written by: BrigGen (ret) Dr. Muhammad Aslam Khan Niazi
Mar 16, 2012

The Syrians are going through a unique trauma as the country's leadership is presiding over a massacre of its own people for the last year. It is not for the sake of rendering sacrifices to achieve any grand Napoleonic design but just because an authoritarian ruler is ruthlessly determined to ...more

LtGen (ret) Ulf von Krause: „Lessons learned from Afghanistan - a German perspective“
written by: Dr. Ulf von Krause
Mar 07, 2012

By 2012, the German Bundeswehr had been engaged in Afghanistan for ten years. The decision as to whether the Bundeswehr takes part in operations in an international context is primarily a responsibility of the Federal Government. However, armed operations undertaken by German forces always ...more

Former U.S. Navy Secretary John F. Lehman: "The U.S. Navy must be restored to a size commensurate with its responsibilities."
written by: Constantin von Wangenheim
Mar 04, 2012

Dr. John F. Lehman has shaped the history of the U.S. Navy like few others. Aged only 38, he was assigned Secretary of the Navy in 1981 during the Reagan Adminstration. ...more

Gasping Democracy and our unrelenting Kleptomaniacs
written by: BrigGen (ret) Dr. Muhammad Aslam Khan Niazi
Feb 29, 2012

The ‘melodrama’, every Pakistani is witnessing, for last couple of months, portrays a national tragedy of its kind. It is baffling to see as high an office as that of Prime Minister (PM) indulging in sinister manoeuvres, which strike at the roots of lustrous institutions ...more

Geopolitics of Technology and the Hydrocarbon Status Quo
written by: Anis Bajrektarevic
Feb 27, 2012

The unrest in the Arab world, which has continued for over a year now, implies one important conclusion beyond any ongoing regional struggle for democracy: It is a reflection about the globally important technological, even more about a crucial geopolitical breakthrough – an escape from the ...more

Iranian Interests in Iraq after US Withdrawal: Camp Ashraf
Feb 20, 2012

The question still remains: after nine tumultuous years, what became of the treasure and blood, both American and Iraqi that was sacrificed in Iraq? With 2011 behind us, and US forces out of Iraq, new crises have erupted in Iraq - both on a political and security level. A new round of explosions ...more

Prospects for North Korea’s New Leadership in 2012
written by: Sangsoo Lee
Feb 15, 2012

2012 will be a critical year for the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has large-scale domestic political events such as the centenary of Kim Il Sung’s birth and the pronouncement of the strong and prosperous nation. Meanwhile, South Korea will hold a presidential election this year. All these ...more

The Fog of Russia’s Military Reform
written by: Dieter Farwick
Jan 26, 2012

To start with a fair statement: To adjust military forces to the new strategic environment and old and new challenges comes close to squaring the circle taking into account all relevant factors. There is no “reset”- no start from scratch. Reformers have to deal with “old thinking”, ...more

The Arab Spring revisited: How the Arab Monarchies can survive
written by: Prof. Dr. Ludger Kuehnhardt
Jan 24, 2012

Revolutions are not processes of social engineering. They unfold as an intrinsically unpredictable flow of events. Structurally, revolutions will go through phases, often through contradictory periods. Hardly any revolution will evolve without turbulences and phases of ...more

The Concept of Honor in War
written by: Andreas Herberg-Rothe
Jan 18, 2012

At present there is a hot debate about the success or failure of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This raises the parallel and equally important question of how the West’s enemies define victory and defeat in such contexts. That is an exercise requiring cultural and historical knowledge that ...more

The New Generation in North Africa and the Middle East
written by: Annemarie Ulbrich
Jan 16, 2012

During the last couple of months the world witnessed deep changes taking place in Middle Eastern and North African countries such as Egypt and Tunesia: The fall of well-established leaders, regime changes and elections generating new opportunities for the formation of more democratic structures ...more

Field Marshal Lord Inge on Libya, Afghanistan and Pakistan
written by: Dr. Hubertus Hoffmann
Jan 06, 2012

When you want to meet a real British army officer and a gentleman with a British sense of humour, a world-view and inner power and musicality, the best option is a lunch in the House of Lords with ...more

Christmas and Holiday Season 2011: Freedom is a Date Palm Emerging from the Sand
written by: Dr. Hubertus Hoffmann
Dec 22, 2011

The year 2011 revealed an unexpected second wave of freedom and democratic values expressing the desire of individuals for dignity and self-determination. Following the dramatic years of liberation in Eastern Europe and the USSR from 1989 to 1991, freedom this time resembled a date palm emerging ...more

The world’s new economic giants: China’s fight for supremacy and India’s subtle rise
written by: Annemarie Ulbrich
Dec 03, 2011

In recent years, there has been a battle for supremacy between the US and China, both states trying to strengthen their influence not only in economics but also in the field of politics. This battle for power and the rise of China can certainly not be proclaimed as the new cold war but it has not ...more

Dead end for US - Pakistan alliance?
Dec 01, 2011

Heartrending images of the green and white, national flag draped coffins of the 24 soldiers and officers that died recently in the NATO attack on two border posts in Pakistan’s Mohmand agency has fuelled intense rage across the country.

Moving into high gear, Pakistan has blocked all ...more

Syrian goalkeeper emerges as protest leader in embattled city of Homs
written by: James M. Dorsey
Nov 15, 2011

The goalkeeper of the Syrian national Under-23 soccer team as well as well as for the Al Karama soccer club in Homs, a focal point of the eight-month old uprising against embattled President Bashar al-Assad, is emerging as a leader of the protests in the city’s Al Bayyadh district.
...more

20 years of independence: Azerbaijan – a nation kept away from democracy?
written by: Annemarie Ulbrich
Nov 06, 2011

As the year 2011 marks the 20th anniversary of Azerbaijan’s independence from the USSR, it also offers the possibility to reflect on what has happened in terms of democratization within the country since it’s restoration in 1991. Azerbaijan has a rich democratic tradition: it was ...more

Second Bonn Conference on Afghanistan
written by: Ahmad Noor
Nov 03, 2011

On December 5 2011, there will be another significant event in the recent history of Afghanistan when the international community and Afghans will once again sit down together to mark the 10^th anniversary of the decade long war. At this juncture of time, the international community and ...more

Energy-Power: Ukraine with Russia or EU?
written by: Constantin von Wangenheim
Oct 29, 2011

The Ukraine is in the midst of a back-and-forth with Russia concerning prices of natural gas and ultimately concerning it's potential fusing with Russia's Customs Union. The latter would unify the country's tariff system, and potentially open the path for Russia to swallow up and integrate Ukraine's ...more

India Toying with Dangerous Cold Start War Doctrine
written by: BrigGen (ret) Dr. Muhammad Aslam Khan Niazi
Oct 28, 2011

Indian Military ‘Cold Start Doctrine’ (CSD) surfaces occasionally in Indian and Pakistani media as an unexplored paradigm. The opinion makers enjoy Voltaire’s philosophy support across the board, that in the third millennium globalized world politics, has become synonymous ...more

Col. Gaddafi killed: What’s next in Libya?
written by: Dr. Hubertus Hoffmann
Oct 24, 2011

In only a few months the world’s longest-serving dictator was ousted from absolute power and now even killed by his people supported by a joint Arab-NATO military campaign including jets from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Now it is time to look for the right decisions for the future of ...more