Joshua Kucera
Tuesday, March 4, 2014 - 09:47
While foreign military aid to the countries of Central Asia is unlikely to have a large impact on security in the region, it's unclear whether the positive effects will outweigh the negative ones.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014 - 09:44
"The UAVs have substantially raised the military capability of the units carrying out the surveillance mission during day and night," the report said.
Friday, February 28, 2014 - 05:20
The former Soviet Union has more often been the recipient of United Nations peacekeeping missions than contributors to them. But several of the countries in the region have been working, often with assistance from the United States, to get their militaries ready to participate in international peacekeeping.
Thursday, February 27, 2014 - 14:07
It's not clear whether this represents a substantive policy shift, but it is the first time in recent memory that the U.S. has explicitly come out in favor of MAP.
Thursday, February 27, 2014 - 13:11
But Tajikistan—with a human rights record that is nearly as bad—has been able to slide under the radar and become a major beneficiary of Pentagon largesse.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014 - 06:22
Georgia's government has quickly approved a proposal to send a contingent of peacekeeping troops on a European Union mission to the Central African Republic, while Turkey is taking its time on making a decision about whether to send its own soldiers.
Monday, February 24, 2014 - 11:15
"The Kremlin will feel even more vulnerable to the 'systemic attack' carried out by the West in the post-Soviet space. Perhaps that would result in more of the same: pushing integration, security cooperation, etc."
Thursday, February 20, 2014 - 01:50
The United States is making contingency plans to place an armed drone base in Central Asia in the case that the government of Afghanistan doesn't allow the U.S. military to stay in the country past 2014, the Los Angeles Times (LAT) has reported. The U.S. wants to maintain the ability to carry out attacks against militants in Pakistan, and if it is forced to vacate Afghanistan, the next best option may be Central Asia.
Monday, February 17, 2014 - 14:26
But while Georgian officials have in the past emphasized that their EU military contributions would be "about providing (military) experts and advisers, not about sending combat personnel," the CAR mission could be dangerous.
Monday, February 17, 2014 - 14:13
Stacie Pettyjohn, an expert on military basing issues at the American think tank RAND Corporation, tells The Bug Pit that a drone base in Central Asia would likely embroil the U.S. in an unhealthy relationship.