ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Reuters / Carlos Gutierrez A US scientist spoke to RT saying he is worried intelligence bodies could try to use the weather as a weapon. He called on the CIA to open up and be more transparent, and wants research to be conducted globally to limit the possibility of hostile use. Professor Alan Robock is wary that US government agencies are interested in funding climate change research to see if new technologies could help to turn the weather into potential weapons. He cited the example of putting a cloud in the stratosphere like those formed from volcanic eruptions, which could be used to try and tackle global warming. He said this would reflect sunlight and cool the Earth, while it would be very cheap and quick, but it would produce a lot of side effects. One such problem with this technology is it could potentially block sunlight from reaching a certain country if carried out on a large scale. One just has to look back at the effects the eruption of Mount Krakatoa in 1883 had on the E...

Reuters / Gleb Garanich Ukrainian troops and rebels in the country’s east have been blaming each other for sporadic ceasefire violations. Both sides say they only respond to attacks launched by adversary forces and question the possibility of heavy artillery withdrawal. The ceasefire is largely holding in eastern Ukraine, the head of the OSCE mission there, Ertugrul Apakan, said Monday. He added that the one exception was Debaltsevo, a town where an estimated 5,000 Ukrainian task force remains trapped, surrounded by rebel forces. "The situation in Debaltsevo is still tense,” the envoy of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Denis Pushilin, said Monday, Tass reported. “The Ukrainian forces continue shelling. And they are still trying to break through the encirclement from the outer side. It is impossible to cease fire completely there. That is why the self-defense forces have to respond.” He also said the rebels were “ready to provide a ‘green corridor’” for the...

By Daniel McAdams After a marathon 17 hour negotiation session, the leaders of Russia, Germany, France, and Ukraine agreed on an upgraded ceasefire plan, "Minsk II," that lays out 13 points to be implemented by the west-backed government in Kiev and the independence-seeking regions in eastern Ukraine. While there is much to be skeptical about in such an agreement -- the devil is always in not just the details but especially in the interpretation of the agreement -- there is one point of the plan that appears very much worth pondering. According to a translation of the 13 points, point number ten reads: All foreign troops, heavy weapons and mercenaries are to be withdrawn from Ukraine. Illegal armed groups would be disarmed, but local authorities in Donetsk and Lugansk would be allowed to have legal militia units. There are two very significant points to ponder in this statement to which all sides agreed. First, it is most likely that when proposing this point, France and Ge...