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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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U.S. troops at Iraqi base under 'regular' fire

Tuesday, January 6, 2015
The 320 U.S. troops at Al Asad air base in Iraq are now coming under "regular" mortar and rocket fire from nearby ISIS fighters, according to Pentagon spokesman Col. Steven Warren. While the attacks are "completely ineffective," it is raising continuing concern that U.S. forces in Iraq can be kept safe and at least technically out of a combat role, a separate defense official said. English
Country(s): 
Iraq
Author(s): 
Barbara Starr
Publisher / Source: 
CNN
Tag(s): 
Military Operations
Terrorism

Govt Sets Up Inter-Agency Council on Foreign Policy

Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Government announced on January 6 about setting up of Inter-Agency Council on Foreign Policy to “coordinate” implementation of Georgia’s foreign policy priorities.
Country(s): 
Georgia
Author(s): 
Civil Georgia
Publisher / Source: 
Civil Georgia
Tag(s): 
Foreign Policy

40 Boys and Men Reportedly Abducted in Nigerian Village

Monday, January 5, 2015
Militants abducted as many as 40 boys and men from a village in northwest Nigeria this week in a raid that authorities have reportedly blamed on Boko Haram, the Islamist group that kidnapped over 250 school girls last year.English
Country(s): 
Nigeria
Author(s): 
Olivia B. Waxman
Publisher / Source: 
Time Magazine
Tag(s): 
Terrorism
Conflict

Israel Angles to Extend US Offer for V-22s

Monday, January 5, 2015
Israel has asked Washington to preserve cut-rate costs and generous terms of a proposed package of up to six V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft pending an ongoing reassessment of procurement priorities driven by last summer's Gaza war.English
Country(s): 
Israel
Program(s): 
Direct Commercial Sales
Foreign Military Financing
Author(s): 
Barbara Opall-Rome
Publisher / Source: 
Defense News
Tag(s): 
Arms Sales
U.S. Policy

Georgian defense minister meets country's servicemen in Afghanistan

Monday, January 5, 2015
The Georgian Defense Minister, Mindia Janelidze, spent New Year’s Eve with the Georgian troops in Afghanistan, the Georgian defense ministry told Trend Jan.3. It is reported that the Deputy Defense Minister Gocha Ratiani and deputy chief of staff of the Georgian armed forces Col. Roman Jokhadze arrived in Afghanistan together with the defense minister.English
Country(s): 
Azerbaijan
Author(s): 
Nana Kirtzkhalia
Publisher / Source: 
Trend (Azerbaijan)

Legitimate Deliberate Democracy in Transition: Failure in the Democratization of Iraq by the United States from 2003-2014

Monday, January 5, 2015
In order for the democracy in Iraq to succeed post-US occupation, the Iraqi government must be inclusive of all interest groups in Iraq, specifically the ethno-sectarian groups that represent the Shia, Sunni Arab, and Sunni Kurdish populations in Iraq.English
Country(s): 
Iraq
Program(s): 
Commander's Emergency Response Program
Author(s): 
Daniel Tyler Brooks
Publisher / Source: 
Small Wars Journal
Tag(s): 
Governance
Sectarianism
Governance

What the Pentagon Can Learn From Carpenters

Monday, January 5, 2015
For more than two years, the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) has tried to carve out modicums of peace and stability that might lead the country out of the violence that has shredded it for more than two decades. AMISOM has sought to protect civilians from IEDs laid by al-Shabab, the militant Islamist group, and its sympathizers, and to improve essential public services such as water, education, roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. AMISOM hopes to “provide an enabling environment” for the United Nations, civilian organizations, and commercial enterprises to come in and finish the work of building peace.English
Country(s): 
Somalia
Program(s): 
USAID Training Program
Foreign Military Interaction
Author(s): 
Christopher Holshek
Publisher / Source: 
Foreign Policy
Tag(s): 
Development

The Afghan President’s Overreach

Monday, January 5, 2015
President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan is known for occasionally being hot-tempered. But it was nonetheless baffling to Western diplomats when, in recent days, he abruptly demanded that the United Nations Development Program, the agency that manages hundreds of millions of dollars provided by Western donors to run the police force, relinquish responsibility for the fund within six months.English
Country(s): 
Afghanistan
Author(s): 
The Editorial Board
Publisher / Source: 
The New York Times
Tag(s): 
Military Operations

Why Is Azerbaijan So Important To U.S., Europe?

Monday, January 5, 2015
Government officials in Europe and the United States have offered only muted criticism of Azerbaijan throughout a year of rampant human rights violations that included the arrest of journalists and activists and the closure of numerous NGOs.English
Country(s): 
Azerbaijan
Author(s): 
Daisy Sindelar
Publisher / Source: 
Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty
Tag(s): 
Human Rights
Governance

New Egyptian Trial Targets Homosexuals

Monday, January 5, 2015
Egypt opened a trial against 26 men charged with engaging in “debauchery”—a euphemism for homosexuality—the latest step in what rights groups say is a broader government crackdown on gay men.English
Country(s): 
Egypt
Author(s): 
Tamer El-Ghobashy
Publisher / Source: 
The Wall Street Journal
Tag(s): 
Human Rights

Biya signs off controversial anti-terrorism law

Monday, January 5, 2015
On December 23rd Cameroon's president, Paul Biya, promulgated a new anti-terrorism law that has been criticized by the opposition, civil society groupings and human rights organizations as severely curtailing basic freedoms.English
Country(s): 
Cameroon
Publisher / Source: 
The Economist Intelligence Unit
Tag(s): 
Counterterrorism
Legislation

While U.S. Negotiated Over Manas, Pentagon Intensified Kyrgyzstan Special Forces Training

Monday, January 5, 2015
The United States significantly stepped up its training of Kyrgyzstan's special forces in 2013, as Washington was trying to convince Bishkek to allow its air base to remain in the country. The U.S. trained 1,024 troops from Kyrgyzstan in fiscal year 2013 (that is, the year beginning October 1, 2012), up from 345 the year before. Of those, 880 were special forces troops which took part in six-week training courses led by their American special forces counterparts, documents newly released by the U.S. State Department show.English
Country(s): 
Kyrgyzstan
Author(s): 
Joshua Kucera
Publisher / Source: 
EurasiaNet
Tag(s): 
Military

Analysis: Mexico scandals expose government without answers

Monday, January 5, 2015
The Mexican president and his team started 2014 carrying out a slew of newly passed reforms, from breaking up telecommunications monopolies to opening the nation’s energy sector, earning him international plaudits, including a Time magazine cover with his image above the caption “Saving Mexico.” English
Country(s): 
Mexico
Author(s): 
Katherin Corcoran
Publisher / Source: 
The Washington Times
Tag(s): 
Human Rights
Security

US: Arrest of Bahraini opposition leader could inflame tensions

Monday, January 5, 2015
The State Department is voicing concern over the arrest of a Bahraini opposition leader, warning that Shaikh Ali Salman’s detention could “inflame tensions.”English
Country(s): 
Bahrain
Author(s): 
Kyle Balluck
Publisher / Source: 
The Hill
Wire Service: 
Reuters
Tag(s): 
Conflict
Judicial Reform

Russia May Supply Su-24 Aircraft To Argentina In Exchange For Food

Monday, January 5, 2015
Russia and Argentina are eyeing a deal under which Moscow would lease 12 Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer aircraft to Buenos Aires in return for beef and wheat, the London-based paper Sunday Express has claimed. As a result, the British Defence Ministry has reportedly launched a review of the air defenses of the Falkland Islands.English
Author(s): 
Jaroslaw Adamowski
Andrew Chuter
Publisher / Source: 
Defense News
Tag(s): 
Conflict

Uzbekistan sets priorities for 2015

Monday, January 5, 2015
Uzbek President Islam Karimov has set the priorities for the country’s development in 2015 in his New Year message. Karimov noted removing all obstacles and limitations, ensuring complete freedom for the development of private property and private entrepreneurship are of fundamental importance. This comes as another key task is to consistently expand the structural reforms in the economy.English
Country(s): 
Uzbekistan
Author(s): 
Aynur Karimova
Publisher / Source: 
Azernews (Azerbaijan)
Tag(s): 
Governance
Security

Mauritius receives Indian offshore patrol vessel

Monday, January 5, 2015
India’s Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) have handed over to Mauritius a 1,300 ton offshore patrol vessel, three years after it was ordered to ensure maritime security around the island nation. English
Country(s): 
Mauritius
India
Publisher / Source: 
Defence Web
Tag(s): 
Security

Tunisia Names Old Regime Veteran to Form New Government

Monday, January 5, 2015
Tunisia's largest political party chose a veteran from the country's former dictatorship as its candidate for prime minister Monday and he began work immediately on forming a coalition government.English
Country(s): 
Tunisia
Publisher / Source: 
ABC
Wire Service: 
AP

El Salvador: From a Broken Peace to Broken Windows

Monday, January 5, 2015
Reuters reports that the number of homicides in El Salvador increased an alarming 56 percent during the past year. “The National Civil Police reported 3,875 homicides in total as of December 30, compared with 2,490 [in 2013]. Just this month, police said, there was an average of 12 homicides daily.”English
Country(s): 
El Salvador
Author(s): 
Michael Busch
Publisher / Source: 
Warscapes
Tag(s): 
Drug Trade

U.S. sends five Guantanamo prisoners to Kazakhstan for resettlement

Monday, January 5, 2015
Three Yemenis and two Tunisians held for more than a decade at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo have been flown to Kazakhstan for resettlement, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, the latest in a series of prisoner transfers aimed at closing the facility.English
Country(s): 
Kazakhstan
Author(s): 
Matt Spetalnick
Publisher / Source: 
Reuters (US)
Tag(s): 
U.S. Policy
Human Rights

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