Resources - News

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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Yes, We Were Warned About Ebola

Tuesday, April 7, 2015
The conventional wisdom among public health authorities is that the Ebola virus, which killed at least 10,000 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, was a new phenomenon, not seen in West Africa before 2013. An article by European researchers in Annals of Virology states otherwise. English
Country(s): 
West Africa Regional
Author(s): 
Bernice Dahn
Vera Mussah
Cameron Nutt
Publisher / Source: 
The New York Times

Arms Won’t Keep U.S., Egypt From Drifting Apart

Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Despite Egypt's new U.S.-acquired jets, tanks and missiles, the Washington-Cairo relationship is running on fumes.
Country(s): 
Egypt
Author(s): 
Steven Cook
Publisher / Source: 
Defense One
Tag(s): 
Military and Police Aid

A Proper Response to the Massacre at Kenya’s Garissa University College

Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Kenyan government has been responding to the terrorist threat with an ineffective and counterproductive counterterrorism approach that is pushing Kenya closer to a precipice. The United States, a key contributor of security assistance to Kenya, can play an important role in helping to ensure that Kenya does not go over the edge.English
Country(s): 
Kenya
Author(s): 
Jonathan Horowitz
Publisher / Source: 
Just Security
Tag(s): 
Counterterrorism

Saudis Ask Pakistan to Join the Fight in Yemen

Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Pakistan’s defense minister told Parliament on Monday that Saudi Arabia had asked Pakistan for aircraft, warships and soldiers to join its offensive against the Houthis in Yemen, possibly signaling Saudi plans to expand its war there. Pakistan has a history of military cooperation with Saudi Arabia that stretches back decades. It has provided extensive military training to the Saudis and stationed tens of thousands of troops in the kingdom, including in the 1990-91 Persian Gulf war.English
Country(s): 
Pakistan
Central Asia Regional
Author(s): 
Salman Masood
Kareem Fahim
Tag(s): 
Military Cooperation
Counterinsurgency

The Limits of U.S.-China Cooperation in Africa

Tuesday, April 7, 2015
The fundamental cause of inadequate U.S.-China cooperation in Africa is an underlying sense of zero-sum competition between the two powers on the continent. English
Country(s): 
Africa Regional
Author(s): 
Yun Sun
Publisher / Source: 
The Brookings Institution
Tag(s): 
Foreign Policy

USS Gary-US Coast Guard Team Seizes More Than 5,200 Kilos of Cocaine

Tuesday, April 7, 2015
USS Gary (FFG 51), her embarked Helicopter Squadron and U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment successfully intercepted a suspected narcotic-trafficking vessel in international waters off the coast of Central America in early March.English
Country(s): 
Central America Regional
Author(s): 
Ensign Michael Singer
Publisher / Source: 
Southcom
Tag(s): 
Drug Trade
U.S. Policy

Fidel Castro Appears In Public For First Time In Over A Year

Monday, April 6, 2015
Former Cuban President Fidel Castro, 88, appeared in public "full of vitality" for the first time in more than a year on Monday, greeting a delegation of Venezuelans, official media reported on Saturday.English
Country(s): 
Cuba
Author(s): 
Daniel Trotta
Publisher / Source: 
Reuters
Tag(s): 
Foreign Policy

ELN Wants U.S. To Assume Responsibility For Colombia’s Armed Conflict

Monday, April 6, 2015
The United States should take responsibility for its role in Colombia’s armed conflict, said local rebel group ELN on SundaEnglish
Country(s): 
Colombia
Author(s): 
Adriaan Alsema
Publisher / Source: 
Colombia Reports
Tag(s): 
Peace Negotiations

Kenya Bombs Somalia al-Shabab Bases After Garissa attack

Monday, April 6, 2015
Kenyan fighter jets have bombed positions of militant Islamist group al-Shabab in neighbouring Somalia, a military spokesman has told the BBC. The warplanes had targeted two camps in the Gedo region, used by al-Shabab to cross into Kenya, the spokesman added.English
Country(s): 
Kenya
Somalia
Publisher / Source: 
BBC News
Tag(s): 
Conflict
Conflict
Counterterrorism

White House Officials Defend Somalia Strategy as Counterterrorism Model

Monday, April 6, 2015
President Obama has cited the battle against al-Shabab militants in Somalia as a model of success for his relatively low-investment, light-footprint approach to counterterrorism. But this week’s massacre of 148 people at Garissa University College demonstrates the limits of the administration’s approach and the difficulty of producing lasting victories over resilient enemies.English
Country(s): 
Somalia
Author(s): 
Greg Jaffe
Publisher / Source: 
The Washington Post
Tag(s): 
Counterterrorism
Terrorism

Just Months After Air Base Deal, Germany And Uzbekistan Reportedly Negotiating Again

Monday, April 6, 2015
The Termez base provides support to German soldiers in Afghanistan, and while the formal combat mission there is over, Germany has 850 troops (as of February 2015) in the NATO follow-on mission to support the Afghanistan security forces. English
Country(s): 
Uzbekistan
Author(s): 
Joshua Kucera
Publisher / Source: 
EurasiaNet
Tag(s): 
Militarization
Military

Afghanistan Stuck Between Iran and Saudi Arabia

Monday, April 6, 2015
The United States' secret talks with Iran, which first led to the interim accord and now to a preliminary nuclear deal, has had wider consequences in the region beyond the simple nuclear file. This accord has angered many US regional allies, and particularly Saudi Arabia, which considers Iran an arch-enemy - partly due to an old Sunni-Shia schism in Islam. The sectarian difference has been manipulated by both Saudi Arabia and Iran in their strategic competition for greater influence in the Middle East, which has undermined the stability of the entire region.
Country(s): 
Afghanistan
Central Asia Regional
Author(s): 
Haroun Mir
Publisher / Source: 
Al Jazeera
Tag(s): 
Conflict
Sectarianism

Army To Probe Sexual Assault Charges In Colombia

Monday, April 6, 2015
Army criminal investigators plan to probe allegations with officials in Colombia that American soldiers and contractors sexually assaulted civilians there, an Army spokesman said on Friday.English
Country(s): 
Colombia
Author(s): 
Tom Vanden Brook
Publisher / Source: 
USA Today
Tag(s): 
Human Rights

Human rights activists’ dismay as Uzbekistan autocrat clings to power

Monday, April 6, 2015
The electoral commission reported a whopping 91.08% turnout. To no one’s surprise, the incumbent president won another five-year term, with 90.39% of the vote. Criticism by observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe passed largely unnoticed.English
Country(s): 
Uzbekistan
Author(s): 
Alec Luhn
Publisher / Source: 
The Guardian
Tag(s): 
Human Rights
Corruption

Britain Used Spy Team To Shape Latin American Public Opinion On Falklands

Monday, April 6, 2015
Faced with mounting international pressure over the Falkland Islands territorial dispute, the British government enlisted its spy service, including a highly secretive unit known for using “dirty tricks,” to covertly launch offensive cyberoperations to prevent Argentina from taking the islands.English
Country(s): 
Argentina
Author(s): 
Andrew Fishman
Glenn Greenwald
Tag(s): 
Security

Yemen's Aden Suffers Amid Clashes, Aid Deliveries Delayed

Monday, April 6, 2015
Explosions shook the suburbs of the Yemeni port city of Aden on Monday as residents reported a foreign warship shelling Houthi positions on the outskirts of the city. Street fighting and heavy shelling has for several days torn through the city, the last bastion of support for Saudi-backed president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
Country(s): 
Yemen
Author(s): 
Mohammed Mukhashaf
Publisher / Source: 
Reuters
Tag(s): 
Foreign Aid

Azerbaijani Air Forces Conduct First Ever Night Drills

Monday, April 6, 2015
Azerbaijani Air Force carried out night flights under a particular preparation plan as part of the armed forces' regular military drills. Azerbaijan, which increased its arms imports by 249 percent over the past ten years, is the second arms importer in Europe following the United Kingdom, according to SIPRI, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.English
Country(s): 
Azerbaijan
Author(s): 
Mushvig Mehdiyev
Publisher / Source: 
Azernews
Tag(s): 
Military Exercises

For Saudi Arabia, Struggles in Yemen Have Deep Roots

Monday, April 6, 2015
In the two weeks since Saudi Arabia launched a bombing campaign in Yemen, the kingdom has barely slowed the advance of Shiite rebels who appear to be digging in for a long fight. But so far, Saudi commanders have projected no outward signs of concern that the campaign is falling short.
Country(s): 
Saudi Arabia
Author(s): 
Brian Murphy
Publisher / Source: 
The Washington Post
Tag(s): 
Military Operations

Turkmenistan asks for U.S. help

Monday, April 6, 2015
Turkmenistan has approached the United States asking for military aid to help the country address instability on its border with Afghanistan, and Washington is trying to support the requests, a senior American military official has said.English
Country(s): 
Turkmenistan
Publisher / Source: 
World Bulletin

East Africa's Tough Security Test

Monday, April 6, 2015
From an irrational massacre of students in a Kenyan University to a brutal murder of a prosecutor in Kampala and a brewing political crisis in Burundi, this is a tough test for East Africa's security and one that calls for urgent solutions.English
Country(s): 
East Africa Regional
Author(s): 
Kenneth Agutamba
Publisher / Source: 
AllAfrica
Tag(s): 
Security
Counterinsurgency
Terrorism

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