ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

By Nick Turse and Tom Engelhardt When Donald Trump enters the Oval Office, awaiting him will not only be his own private air assassination corps (those CIA drones that take out terror suspects globally from a White House “ kill list ”), but his own private and remarkably secret military. Ever since John F. Kennedy first made the Green Berets into figures of military glamour, there’s always been something alluring to presidents about the U.S. military’s elite special ops forces. Still, that was then, this is now. In the twenty-first century, the Special Operations Command, which oversees those elite forces cocooned within the regular military, has gained ever more power to act in ever more independent and secretive ways. In those same years, the country’s elite troops, including those Green Berets, the Navy SEALs, and the Army’s Delta Force, have grown to staggering proportions, while ever more money has poured into their coffers. There are now an estimated 70,000 of them -- a crew...

Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov has faced an assasination attempt in Ankara. The Russian state-run news agency ‘Tass’ reported few moments ago : An armed man has burst into the Contemporary Art Gallery in Ankara, where a ceremony to unveil the photography exhibition Russia through the Eyes of Turks was in progress, eye witnesses have told Tass, saying the incident occurred when Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov was addressing the audience. They say gun shots could be heard and the man cried out “Get away from here”. Russian ambassador in Turkey has come under attack, Turkish diplomatic source said. Karlov in a critical state was rushed to a hospital. UPD: Karlov died in the hospital. Russia describes his assasination as a terrorist act. Video of the attack: According to Turkish NTV broadcaster, 3 other people were also injured in the assasination attempt. Other sources say that 2 more people were injured. Media reports also say say police are engaged in a shootout with the ...

At least 9 people were killed and more than 50 injured few houres ago in one of Berlin’s largest Christmas markets, located in the western Charlottenburg district. Officials are investigating the crash as an act of terrorism, according to a German intelligence official familiar with the matter. The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Force tweeted that ISIS was taking credit for the attack. According to the police the truck (black Scania) drove 50-80 metres through the market area. The truck was going 40mph. It was in the middle of a square, there are main roads either side, [where it could have come from]. But it showed no sign of slowing down,” said Emma Rushton, a British tourist. A Christmas tree was fallen by the truck. Acccording to The Telegraph , the truck belongs to a Polish firm based in the northern town of Gryfino, just a stone’s throw from the German border. The company owner said the vehicle involved in the incident was new and only had about 30,000 kilometres on the clock. Ge...

Terry Pratchett “Interesting times” Written by Alexander Uzunov; Originally appeared at Memoriabg , translated by Valentina Tzoneva Alexander Uzunov has a BA degree in Political Science and is currently continuing his studies in Masters in Diplomacy and National Security at the “St., St. Cyril and Metodiy”. He is the author of analyses in the field of global and regional policy. His interests are in the field of geopolitics and international relations. There is a curse: it says: “May you live in interesting times!” Terry Pratchett has chosen this ancient Chinese wisdom for the beginning of his book, “Interesting times”. I will also start with it because of its particular relevance to the present time. The world is changing at the speed of light and established ideologies and norms sink into oblivion. The first year of my studies at the university was in the not so distant in 2012 and given the bleak scenarios for the coming end of the world, it looked pretty apocalyptic. Of course, eve...