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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A New Sectarian Force for Iraq

Tuesday, November 18, 2014
In the wake of the rise of the Islamic State, Iraqis expect the sectarian nature of the central government to remain and the weakness of the Iraqi army to persist. It is within this context that the U.S.-backed proposal for the creation of a “national guard” is likely to end up reinforcing sectarianism and validate calls for a geographic division of Iraq along sectarian lines. English
Country(s): 
Iraq
Author(s): 
Raed al-Hamed
Publisher / Source: 
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Sada
Tag(s): 
Sectarianism
U.S. Policy
Terrorism

Agreement Reached for US to Train Syrian Rebels in Turkey

Tuesday, November 18, 2014
The United States will train fighters from the Syrian moderate opposition in Turkey, the Department of Defense said Monday. According to a report this weekend in the Istanbul-based Hurriyet Daily News, military officials from both countries agreed that the U.S. would begin training and equipping 2,000 Free Syrian Army fighters at a training center in central Turkey in late December.English
Country(s): 
Turkey
Syria
Author(s): 
Chris Carroll
Publisher / Source: 
Stars and Stripes
Tag(s): 
Terrorism
Military and Police Aid

'Ghost' Soldiers Haunt Iraqi Army

Tuesday, November 18, 2014
The Iraqi army includes “ghost” soldiers, a purely Iraqi term used to describe members whose names are registered in the wages and salaries lists, but who are not actually present in the military ranks. Their wages go to leaders who cover for their absence.English
Country(s): 
Iraq
Author(s): 
Adnan Abu Zeed
Publisher / Source: 
Al Monitor
Tag(s): 
Military
Corruption
Terrorism

Saudi National Guard Chief To Seek More US Backing

Tuesday, November 18, 2014
A top Saudi Arabian official who begins a visit to the United States on Tuesday will seek to strengthen support for the kingdom’s powerful National Guard forces, official media said.English
Country(s): 
Saudi Arabia
Publisher / Source: 
Defense News
Wire Service: 
Agence France-Presse

India Removes IMI From Blacklist

Tuesday, November 18, 2014
India has quietly lifted a ban on Israeli Military Industries (IMI), paving the way for negotiating new defense projects with the Israeli company, a Defence Ministry source said. English
Country(s): 
Israel
India
Author(s): 
Vivek Raghuvanshi
Publisher / Source: 
Defense News
Tag(s): 
Arms Sales
Foreign Policy
Corruption

Georgian PM, NATO Chief Discuss Implementation of ‘Substantive Package'

Tuesday, November 18, 2014
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met Georgia’s PM Irakli Garibashvili in Brussels on November 17 and discussed implementation of the “substantive package” of cooperation, which NATO offered to Georgia at its summit in Wales in September. English
Country(s): 
Georgia
Publisher / Source: 
Civil Georgia
Tag(s): 
Military

Egypt Will Expand Its Security Zone Near Gaza Strip

Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Egypt’s military said on Monday that it intended to double the size of a secured buffer zone in a town bordering the Gaza Strip after discovering smuggling tunnels across the frontier that were longer than expected, according to state news media.English
Country(s): 
Egypt
Palestinian Territories
Israel
Author(s): 
Kareem Fahim
Merna Thomas
Publisher / Source: 
The New York Times
Tag(s): 
Counterterrorism

Tajik NGOs Fear Limits On Foreign Grants Could Force Closures

Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Nongovernmental organizations in Tajikistan are concerned over new legislation that restricts their access to foreign grants. Participants at an international conference in Dushanbe said on November 18 that according to legal amendments recently adopted by aparliament, NGOs in the Central Asian nation will only be able to receive grants from foreign entities if they have apprival from the government.English
Country(s): 
Tajikistan
Publisher / Source: 
RFE/RL
Tag(s): 
Human Rights

Mexican Drug Cartels Arming Gangs in Costa Rica: Official

Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Mexican drug cartels are reportedly arming gangs in Costa Rica with high-caliber weaponry, perhaps an indication that the Mexican criminals are shifting operations from countries under intense security pressure to those with weaker drug interdiction and law enforcement capabilities.English
Country(s): 
Mexico
Author(s): 
David Gagne
Publisher / Source: 
InSight Crime

Exercise Trident Juncture '14 Concludes

Tuesday, November 18, 2014
NATO's three-level (strategic, operational and tactical) Command Post Exercise/Computer Assisted Exercise (CPX/CAX) TRIDENT JUNCTURE 14 (TRJE 14) concluded today following nine days of intense training with Joint Force Command Naples (JFC Naples) and its subordinate Component Commands.English
Country(s): 
Europe Regional
Author(s): 
Inci Kucukaksoy
Publisher / Source: 
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Tag(s): 
Military Exercises

Aftermath of Three U.S. Citizens Kidnapped and Shot Dead in Matamoros

Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Over a month after three U.S. citizens were kidnapped and killed in Tamaulipas, investigations continue to determine what role local security officials played in the incident. On October 13, three siblings from Texas—Érica Alvarado Rivera (26), Alex (22), and José Ángel (21)—were kidnapped in the Mexican border city of Matamoros,English
Country(s): 
Mexico
Publisher / Source: 
Justice In Mexico
Tag(s): 
Civil-Military Relations

Pentagon to Send 2,100 Troops to Fight Ebola in Africa

Monday, November 17, 2014
The Pentagon has authorized 2,100 Army Reserve and Army National Guard soldiers to be sent to West Africa to help with international efforts to stop the spread of Ebola. English
Country(s): 
West Africa Regional
Author(s): 
Kristina Wong
Publisher / Source: 
The Hill

PM Heads to Brussels for Talks with EU, NATO Officials

Monday, November 17, 2014
PM Irakli Garibashvili will participate in an inaugural session of the EU-Georgia Association Council on November 17 in Brussels, where he will also meet senior EU officials, as well as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.English
Country(s): 
Georgia
Publisher / Source: 
Civil Georgia
Tag(s): 
Politics and Security

U.S. to Speed Training of Iraqi Security Forces

Monday, November 17, 2014
U.S. defense officials say they are taking steps to more quickly boost the capabilities of Iraqi security forces to counter Islamic State militants, including using American troops already in Iraq to open new training bases.English
Country(s): 
Iraq
Author(s): 
Julian E. Barnes
Publisher / Source: 
The Wall Street Journal
Tag(s): 
Military and Police Aid
Terrorism

In Blow for Tokyo and Washington, Okinawa Elects Governor Who Opposes Military Base

Monday, November 17, 2014
Voters in Okinawa have, by a landslide, elected a governor who vows to block the relocation of a controversial Marine Corps air station, delivering a setback to both Tokyo and Washington by throwing a wrench into their defense alliance.English
Country(s): 
Japan
Author(s): 
Anna Fifield
Publisher / Source: 
The Washington Post
Tag(s): 
Military

Burkina Faso Names Ex-Diplomat as Interim Leader

Monday, November 17, 2014
After days of intense political wrangling, a committee of political, military, religious and traditional authorities in Burkina Faso named a former foreign minister and veteran diplomat on Monday to oversee a transition to new elections following the ouster of President Blaise Compaoré.
Country(s): 
Burkina Faso
Author(s): 
Herve Taoko
Publisher / Source: 
The New York Times
Tag(s): 
Civil-Military Relations

U.S. Forces Already Advising Iraqi Forces in Anbar Province

Monday, November 17, 2014
American forces have begun advising Iraqi troops in the western Anbar province, the top U.S. general told Reuters, in a faster-than-expected expansion of an operation that is central to its campaign against Islamic State.English
Country(s): 
Iraq
Author(s): 
Phil Stewart
Publisher / Source: 
Reuters
Tag(s): 
Military and Police Aid

Rep. Smith: With Calls for Ground Troops, Republicans Disconnected From Reality

Monday, November 17, 2014
Senate Armed Services Committee member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters this week that Washington should deploy 20,000 US troops to fight the Islamic State. Graham said he would put 10,000 American troops in Iraq and 10,000 in Syria. In a Friday statement, House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith, D-Wash., sounded bewildered by such calls.English
Country(s): 
Iraq
Syria
Author(s): 
John T. Bennett
Publisher / Source: 
Defense News
Tag(s): 
U.S. Congress
U.S. Policy
Terrorism

Kyrgyzstan and Russia in a New Defence Agreement to Fight ISIL

Monday, November 17, 2014
According to the Defence Ministers of Kyrgyzstan and Russia, present circumstances demand that a new defence agreement be finalized between the two countries with the aim of reaching a regional structure to protect Central Asia from the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) and Islamic extremism.English
Country(s): 
Kyrgyzstan
Russia
Author(s): 
Giorgia Fiacconi
Publisher / Source: 
The Times of Central Asia (TCA)
Tag(s): 
Military Cooperation
Terrorism

Egypt to Try Five Students in Military Court on Riot Charges

Monday, November 17, 2014
Five Egyptian students were transferred to a military court on Sunday on charges of rioting at a university, a judicial source said, weeks after a law was passed allowing military trials of civilians for damaging state property.English
Country(s): 
Egypt
Publisher / Source: 
Reuters
Tag(s): 
Civil-Military Relations
Human Rights

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