ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Fighting between security forces and armed groups in Kerdassah district leaves one policeman dead, state TV reports. Egyptian troops and police have stormed the Kerdassah district in the outskirts of Cairo to clear it of "terrorist elements", security officials said, amid clashes with armed groups based in the area. Vehicles carrying armed personnel were sent into the village on Thursday while army helicopters hovered above. The clashes have so far left one policeman dead, state TV reported. It said police forces took control of the area and imposed a curfew. Security troops launched an operation in the area to arrest people accused of torching police stations and killing about 11 security officers in clashes that erupted following the army's ouster of President Mohamed Morsi last July. Police forces were not allowed in Kerdasah since then. Al Jazeera's correspondent, reporting from Cairo, said the operation began at about 3:00a.m. and was still ongoing. "Securit...

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Monday that Russia would rebuild a naval base in the Arctic and restart naval patrols in the region. Russia's interest in the Arctic has both an economic and security dimension, one which will only grow as the region will become more accessible in the coming decades. However, following through with such plans will be both technologically difficult and expensive, so for now such naval plans can be seen mostly as military posturing on the part of Moscow. Putin's statements came a few days after a convoy of 10 Russian warships successfully completed a journey from Severomorsk, near Finland, to Kotelny Island in the Novosibirsk Archipelago, a distance of over 2,000 nautical miles. This journey went through the Northern Sea Route along Russia's Arctic coastline, an important transit corridor increasingly used for commercial shipping. While just five years ago there were no ships that transited through this corridor, 495 ships have re...

Islamabad/Brussels   |   18 Sep 2013 To consolidate democracy, Pakistan’s new parliament needs institutional reform and strong cross-party determination to fend off an interventionist military and over-reaching judiciary. In its latest report, Parliament’s Role in Pakistan’s Democratic Transition , the International Crisis Group examines the challenges facing a legislature still striving for full democratic sovereignty. In the midst of a security crisis, lingering extremism and a weakening economy, its authority is tested from many directions. Yet, the opportunities to consolidate democracy are real and legislative tools to address institutional challenges are more sophisticated than ever. The report’s major findings and recommendations are: The experience of the thirteenth National Assembly (2008-2013) demonstrated that threats to democracy from an interventionist military, ambitious judiciary and unreformed bureaucracy continue. The second ph...