ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

If recent statistics are anything to go by, future developments in the worldwide trend of military expenditure are not expected to make hopeful reading for those who advocate global disarmament.  Despite the austere fiscal policies that have been adopted in many of the world's developed nations, military expenditure has suffered little, and in nations like India and China - countries that have in recent years enjoyed periods of economic growth - decisions in military spending seem to be indicative of a strategic choice in a long-term bid for regional and global influence, often cited by watchers as being the inevitable rise of Asia . Facts on defense and arms in Share 2 Global Defense Spending Values Statistic Global military expenditure $1,760bn Details → Change of military spending in North Africa between 2005 & 2014 148% Details → Saudi Arabia has highest military expenditure as percentage of GDP 13.7% Details → ...

By Niall McCarthy  U.S. Special Operations Command launched a raid in Yemen's Baida Province on Jan 29, targeting Qassim al-Rimi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The first high-profile special forces operation of Trump's presidency, the raid resulted in the deaths of at least 14 Al Qaeda fighters, 20 civilians and Navy SEAL William "Ryan" Owens. Three other Americans were reportedly wounded and an Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft was destroyed by U.S. forces after it was heavily damaged in a forced landing. Over the past few days, it has emerged that al-Rimi survived the raid and he has subsequently released an audio message taunting President Trump. Special forces operations like the one in Yemen are nothing new. America's elite troops have found themselves on the frontlines constantly since 9/11, conducting operations everywhere from the dusty back alleys of North Africa to the snow-capped mountains of Afghanistan. Even though they have made h...

The Syrian army repelled an assault of the joint forces of the Free Syrian Army’s Southern Front and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) in the provincial capital of the Daraa province. Militants attacked government positions in the Manshiyah neighbourhood earlier today , but suffered heavy casualties and were pushed to retreat. Pro-government sources report that up to 40 members of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and the FSA’s Southern Front were killed in clashes. This was the biggest escalation in the area in the recent months. The militants had used suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices during their assault. This clearly indicated the level of “moderation” of the “opposition groups” involved in the operation. Click to see the full-size map

Originally appeared at Free Market Shooter blog Shortly after Trump took office, and before Rex Tillerson was even confirmed as Secretary of State , a slew of State Department officials were removed from their positions (or were forced to resign) as part of an effort to “clean house” at the State Department. The whole affair was haphazardly covered by the media, especially by Jeff Bezos’s blog , which insinuated that the departures were “an ongoing mass exodus of senior Foreign Service officers who don’t want to stick around for the Trump era.” Further analysis revealed that the officials were actually removed from their positions shortly after Tillerson visited the State Department office in Foggy Bottom prior to his confirmation: “Any implication that that these four people quit is wrong,” one senior State Department official said. “These people are loyal to the secretary, the President and to the State Department. There is just not any attempt here to dis the President. People ar...