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This section includes the latest news relating to U.S. security policy around the world. Updated daily, the news provided in this searchable database highlights the most relevant security developments from around the world. 

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Obama Denies Iraq's Request for Apaches and Drones

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
President Obama pledged Tuesday to give Iraq what it needs to defeat ISIS but stopped short of promising the delivery of high-end weaponry such as Apache attack helicopters and armed drones.
Country(s): 
Iraq
Author(s): 
Richard Sisk
Publisher / Source: 
Military.com
Tag(s): 
Military Equipment

Boehner Seeks Larger Role for U.S. Troops in ISIS Fight

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) says President Obama should give U.S. troops stationed in Iraq the authority to engage Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) forces in combat. "I think the president is placing artificial constraints on our commanders," he told a small group of reporters on Tuesday, according to USA Today.
Country(s): 
Iraq
Author(s): 
Martin Matishak
Publisher / Source: 
The Hill
Tag(s): 
Terrorism

Obama Gives Visiting Iraqi Premier Aid and an Endorsement

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
President Obama gave Haider al-Abadi, the prime minister of Iraq, a full-throated endorsement and $200 million in humanitarian aid on Tuesday, but the visiting leader left the White House still in need of billions more dollars to cope with plunging oil prices and a yawning budget deficit.
Country(s): 
Iraq
Author(s): 
Peter Baker
Michael R. Gordon
Publisher / Source: 
The New York Times
Tag(s): 
Foreign Aid

Little Mogadishu, Under Siege

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Somali community, living in the neighborhood called Eastleigh, is caught between an al-Shabab that is now targeting Muslims and Christians alike, and an emboldened Kenyan security apparatus willing to go to extreme measures in an attempt to root out radical elements in Somali communities like this.English
Country(s): 
Kenya
Somalia
Author(s): 
Amanda Sperber
Publisher / Source: 
Foreign Policy
Tag(s): 
Terrorism
Counterterrorism
Terrorism

Death by Drone: Civilian Harm Caused by U.S. Targeted Killings in Yemen

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
In 2013, President Obama promised that before any U.S. drone strike, “there must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured.” Death by Drone questions whether he has kept that promise. The report casts serious doubt on whether the United States’ “near-certainty” standard is being met on the ground, and whether the U.S. is complying with international law.
Country(s): 
Yemen
Publisher / Source: 
Open Society Justice Initiative
Tag(s): 
Drones
Conflict

Why Is Central Asia Excited About the Iran Deal?

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Central Asia is excited by progress in the P5+1′s negotiations with Iran because it presents a valuable economic opportunity that has long waited in the wings: a relief from the pressures of Russia and China. The progress also validates, in a way, the region’s decision to remain non-nuclear, providing states with dubious human rights records something the international community can commend them for.English
Country(s): 
Central Asia Regional
Author(s): 
Catherine Putz
Publisher / Source: 
The Diplomat
Tag(s): 
Sanctions

Cuba Praises 'Fair' U.S. Pledge On Terrorism List

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Cuba has welcomed as "fair" a U.S. decision to remove it from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, saying it should never have been on the list in the first place.English
Country(s): 
Cuba
Publisher / Source: 
BBC
Tag(s): 
Foreign Policy

East Africa’s Neglected Weapon Against Terror: Rule of Law

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Law enforcement in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and elsewhere in East Africa needs skills, experience, and enabling equipment to effectively investigate terrorism cases. Investigators in the region need international support as they seek to work more closely with prosecutors to build cases against terrorists and successfully bring them to trial.English
Country(s): 
East Africa Regional
Author(s): 
Maureen Farrell
Publisher / Source: 
The East African
Tag(s): 
Policing
Terrorism
Law Enforcement

FARC Rebels Kill 10 Colombian Soldiers

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Ten Colombian soldiers have been killed in an attack by left-wing Farc rebels in west of the country, officials say.English
Country(s): 
Colombia
Publisher / Source: 
BBC
Tag(s): 
Peace Negotiations

Syria Needs Train-and-Equip on Steroids: Ambassador Frederic C. Hof’s Remarks

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Ambassador Frederic C. Hof states in the report that train and equip program for Syria needs to be put on steroids. To do so efficiently will require secure areas in Syria protected from regime air attacks and from ground attacks mounted by the regime, ISIL, and other extremists. This will require American leadership; not American boots on the ground. English
Country(s): 
Syria
Author(s): 
Frederic C. Hof
Publisher / Source: 
The Atlantic Council
Tag(s): 
Military and Police Aid
Terrorism

Mexican Cartel Hangs Banners After Cop Massacre

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Authorities told residents of Guadalajara on Tuesday to ignore banners allegedly hung around Mexico’s second biggest city by a drug cartel that killed 15 police officers last week. English
Country(s): 
Mexico
Publisher / Source: 
The Tico Times
Wire Service: 
AFP

Egypt and Saudi Arabia Discuss Maneuvers as Yemen Battles Rage

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Egypt said it and Saudi Arabia had discussed holding a "major military maneuver" in Saudi Arabia with other Gulf states, following talks on the progress of the three-week-old Saudi-led campaign of air strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.
Country(s): 
Egypt
Saudi Arabia
Yemen
Author(s): 
Mohamed Mukashaf
Publisher / Source: 
Reuters
Tag(s): 
Military Cooperation

Kenya Rights Group Shutdown 'Harming Counter-Terrorism Efforts'

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Kenya rights groups condemned Tuesday the suspension of two key Muslim civil society organisations for suspected links to Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab, saying it will damage efforts to counter extremism.English
Country(s): 
Kenya
Publisher / Source: 
Yahoo News
Wire Service: 
AFP
Tag(s): 
Terrorism
Civil Society
Counterterrorism

Tunisia’s Security Sector and Countering Violent Extremism; Part 1: Controlling the Narrative

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
In the wake of the hostage shootout at Bardo Museum in Tunis that left more than twenty dead, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently announced that U.S. military aid to Tunisia would triple to combat “those who threaten the freedom and safety of the nation.” The renewed global focus on countering violent extremism, however, should also draw scrutiny to an opaque security sector that continues to act with impunity.
Country(s): 
Tunisia
Author(s): 
Fadil Aliriza
Publisher / Source: 
Atlantic Council
Tag(s): 
Military and Police Aid

Watchdogs Say U.S. Turned Blind Eye to Uzbek Abuse

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
“There has never been a consistent U.S. foreign policy in Central Asia,” Sarah Kendzior, an independent Central Asia expert, told FP. “Not only is it hard to maintain meaningful relationships with the region’s autocratic regimes, but American inconsistency gives the impression to local governments that Washington doesn’t care about Central Asia on its own, only as a means to an end.”English
Country(s): 
Uzbekistan
Author(s): 
Reid Standish
Publisher / Source: 
Foreign Policy
Tag(s): 
U.S. Policy
Human Rights

As Libya Crumbles, Calls Grow for Feuding Factions to Meet Halfway

Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Libyans have puzzled for four years over what might arrest their country’s disintegration. Feuding factions have consistently reached for guns instead of compromises in their battle to fill the vacuum left by the fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, ultimately breaking the country into two warring coalitions of militias and city-states.
Country(s): 
Libya
Author(s): 
David D. Kirkpatrick
Publisher / Source: 
The New York Times
Tag(s): 
Conflict

The Egg and the Stone: The More Things Change in Mali, the More They Remain the Same

Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Last year, Mali’s new government was rocked by the ‘jet scandal’ – a multi-million dollar defence procurement contract that hid all kinds of dodgy deals and illicit spending. Shocked donors suspended aid and the president’s popularity nosedived. But the donors are back and Mali has moved on, even though little seems to have changed.
Country(s): 
Mali
Publisher / Source: 
Daily Maverick
Tag(s): 
Corruption

Expert: International Community Enabled South Sudanese Corruption

Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Alex de Waal discusses how South Sudan, the world’s newest country, was set up to fail.
Country(s): 
South Sudan
Author(s): 
The Fault Lines Digital Team
Publisher / Source: 
Al Jazeera
Tag(s): 
Corruption

‘Boko Haram Is a Devil’: Embedded with Troops in Nigeria's Ongoing Offensive

Tuesday, April 14, 2015
VICE's Kaj Larsen was recently embedded with Nigeria's army as members battled Boko Haram. The militant Islamist insurgents have wreaked havoc on cities, towns, villages, and the countryside in northeastern Nigeria. In his first dispatch, Larsen, a former Navy SEAL, reported from a schoolhouse turned military outpost. Here he reports from an airport in Maiduguri, now closed because of attacks from Boko Haram.
Country(s): 
Nigeria
Author(s): 
Kaj Larsen
Publisher / Source: 
Vice News
Tag(s): 
Terrorism

At Least 2,000 Women and Girls Kidnapped by Boko Haram: Amnesty

Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Boko Haram has kidnapped at least 2,000 women and girls since the beginning of last year, Amnesty International said on Tuesday, a year on from the mass abduction of 219 Nigerian schoolgirls.
Country(s): 
Nigeria
Publisher / Source: 
Yahoo News
Wire Service: 
AFP
Tag(s): 
Terrorism

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