Global Security
Global Security
Fair Observer's analysis of issues in governance, constitution, law, enforcement, and justice both nationally and internationally.
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360° Analysis / al-Qaeda / AQAP / Drones / Global Security / Pakistan / Politics / United States / United States / Yemen / Middle East / Global Security / AsiaBy Bilal AhmedDestabilisation in Yemen and Pakistan is tipping the scale in the wrong direction for the US drone warfare policy. A highly controversial element of the war on terrorism, drones have led to troubling circumstances in both Pakistan and Yemen. Even as the US painstakingly sought to eliminate terror networks employing the smartest piece of its military technology over the past years, Washington’s high-frequency drone strike strategy has not only further destabilized both countries, ironically it has also aided a fresh spurt of anti-American terrorist outfits now threatening its security and national interests more than ever. Drone strikes have become a staple of the new American century...
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1984 / 360° Analysis / ceasefire / conflict / DMZ / George Orwell / Ideology / Juche / Kim Jong Un / Korea / military / North Korea / Nuclear Missile / Peninsula / Pyongyang / Seoul / South Korea / United States / Washington / Global Security / AsiaThe annual “Tension Season” in relations between the United States and North Korea is noticeably harsher this year. Every year, there seems to be two periods of tension in the relationship between the United States and North Korea. These seasons of tension are nothing new. The historical pattern of bi-annual tensions are a result of confrontation spawning from joint military exercises by the US and its allies on the Korean Peninsula which coincide with two major North Korean public holidays, May Day and the Mass Games. May Day demonstrations celebrate the effort and sacrifices of the working class and are thus often proceeded by a...
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360° Analysis / Afghanistan / Carnegie Endowment / Politics / Syria / Syrian Civil War / United States / Europe / BRIC / Middle East / Global SecurityTwo years into the Syrian crisis, Russia and the United States are united by the same concern: how to prevent an “Afghanistan on the Mediterranean”. Now and then, there are reports suggesting that a US-Russian deal on Syria might be imminent. The closure has not happened yet, but since the crisis in Syria first erupted two years ago, both the US and the Russian positions have evolved. Russia no longer fears the United States leading a Libyan-style military intervention in Syria. Nor does Moscow believe that Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad will eventually prevail over his opponents. Washington, by contrast, has tempered its initial expectations of Assad’s imminent...
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Brandon Scott, who served on a Tactical Human Intelligence Team in Iraq from 2004 to 2005, argues that despite the storm of sectarianism and violence, the Iraq War should be perceived as a success. The 10th Anniversary of the Iraq War was marked this week with the usual commentary of defeatism. It seems like no matter where one reads, the same underlying statement is made: The United States lost the war in Iraq. I strongly disagree with this argument. Unlike in Vietnam, US soldiers, spooks (intelligence officers), and statesmen did not leave Iraq in a rush. The Mahdi Army or the al-Qaeda inspired Islamic State of Iraq, unlike the North Vietnamese Army in Saigon, did not roll down the...
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To bolster the US government's foreign policy, Washington would be well-advised to attempt to plant and cultivate a relationship with the PJAK, the armed-Kurdish resistance group at odds with Iran. The hills and mountains of the Kurdistan province of western Iran serve as the battleground and shelter for the most potent armed resistance group in the Islamic Republic. For almost a decade, the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK) has fought an extremely robust insurgency against Iranian security forces. In spite of PJAK's campaign against the Iranian government, the group has not received a fraction of the attention from US strategists that other anti-Islamic Republic militant...
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360° Analysis / Drones / Pakistan / United States / Yemen / Middle East / Global Security / AsiaYemen replaced Pakistan as the primary destination for US drone strikes in 2012. In both countries, official government support for this US policy often comes at odds with the average citizen. Yemen’s President, Abd-Rabbo Mansur Hadi, does not have any particularly strong local powerbase in the country, normally a pre-requisite for leading as unstable a country as Yemen. Perhaps that is why he continues to vocally support the continuation of a US drones campaign in his country in the face of widespread national opposition to a counter-terrorism strategy, that often results in civilian ‘collateral damage.’ Hadi: Drone Strikes in Yemen Hadi needs America’s...
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Democracy / economy / finance / Intelligence / Politics / security / United States / Washington D.C / Focus Article / Global SecurityBy Mike RettigDespite the controversies over the past decade, the US has a good track record of maintaining its democratic traditions while still using secret intelligence services to preserve national security. In 1777, George Washington wrote that the “necessity of procuring good intelligence is apparent.” Indeed, as America fought ardently for its ideals during the Revolutionary War, Washington was said to be an “avid user of intelligence as well as a consummate practitioner.” Washington’s words and actions demonstrate well the contradiction surrounding a democracy’s intelligence service. While the secrecy inherent in a well-functioning intelligence service can...
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360° Analysis / Drones / India / Occidental / Oriental / Pakistan / Politics / Sectarianism / Sovereignty / Taliban / Global Security / AsiaNeo-orientalist narratives representing Pakistan through the paradigm of security and geo-strategy neglect the struggles of the people on the ground. This is the first of a three part series. Just before his untimely death and in the aftermath of the US raid in Pakistan that resulted in Osama bin Laden's killing, renowned intellectual Christopher Hitchens described Pakistan as a country “completely humorless, paranoid, insecure, eager to take offense, and suffering from self-righteousness, self-pity, and self-hatred.” Referring to abuses of women’s rights, Hitchens declared Pakistan a society where 'the most elemental of human instincts become warped.' He then...
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360° Analysis / Asia-Pacific / North Korea / Nuclear / United States / US / Global Security / AsiaCultural diplomacy, not bellicose rhetoric, should begin to define North Korea-US relations. The Harlem Globetrotters basketball team’s recent trip to North Korea should have been hailed as an effective cultural diplomatic venture. This trip was made possible by the official invitation of the North Korean President Kim Jung-Un, and, headlined by the star power of Dennis Rodman, should have opened a serious discussion in US foreign policy circles over non-confrontational methods to engage with North Korea. Instead, the trip gathered a storm of disapproval from the US media, whipping up a media frenzy of sensational reporting and aggressive bombast towards North Korea’s...