This week France retooled its security policy in the Sahel, the U.S. upped its efforts to find the kidnapped Nigerian girls, and warring parties in South Sudan came no closer to ending their ongoing conflict.
This post covers Secretary Hagel’s trip to the Middle East, the 20th anniversary of the ceasefire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and several other top security stories from MENA and Eurasia.
Deputy Secretary of State William Burns traveled to Central Asia this week, meeting the presidents of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. And while few details about the meetings were released, it seems that the main topics of conversation were events to the East (in Ukraine) and South (in Afghanistan).
Both countries are key partners of the United States military effort in Afghanistan, in particular their cooperation on the land transport routes known as the...
This week Venezuelan and Mexican security forces came under fire for human rights abuses, Guatemala considered legalizing poppy and marijuana and Argentina said it was going to ramp up cooperation with the DEA due to increased drug trafficking in the country. Here's a roundup of these stories and other highlights from around the region this week.
The U.S announced it will send an advisory team to Nigeria to help locate the kidnapped girls; Secretary Kerry wrapped up his visit to the continent, and the United States signed another ten year lease for its base in Djibouti. Read about this and other news below:
Several groups requested additional U.S. security assistance this week: Syria’s opposition asked for antiaircraft missiles for vetted Syrian rebels, while some Iraqi officials requested that the U.S. begin armed drone strikes against al-Qaeda-inspired groups.