Earlier this month, the White House released a Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) on United States Conventional Arms Export Policy. The announcement was touted as an arms policy upgrade for meant to promote exports of U.S. arms and technical support systems and to stipulate the restraints involved in authorizing sales and transfers of arms and associated technology. In terms of technical capabilities, the PPD officially expands the government’s...
The U.S. Congress has again given the State Department the go-ahead to give military aid to Uzbekistan in spite of concerns about the country's poor record on human rights, a State Department official has told The Bug Pit.
Congress imposed restrictions on military aid to Uzbekistan in 2004 after the country's government failed to implement promised political reforms. Those restrictions remain in place today. But two years ago Congress, at the urging of the Obama administration, agreed...
This week Colombia’s military was caught spying on peace negotiations in Havana, Guatemala’s President was unhappy about U.S. conditioning aid to the country, U.S. Southern Command geared up for training exercises in the region and the Knights Templar...
While State Department officials were in Tajikistan this week to discuss law enforcement and border security cooperation with the country’s Drug Control Agency, the Department’s top counternarcotics official admitted in a Congressional hearing that the Central Asian states have not always met the United States’ desired level of collaboration on this issue. Below is a roundup of these stories and some of the other top articles and news highlights from around Central Eurasia over the last week:
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The African Union held its annual summit, while U.S. AFRICOM conducted trainings and is considering expanding its troop presence in Africa. Below is a roundup of top articles and news highlights from around the region over the last week:
The House Foreign Affairs Committee held a subcommittee hearing on...