ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Reuters/Gleb Garanich / Reuters Written by  The Saker ; Originally appeared at  The Unz Review The latest big news out of the Ukraine Have you heard what the latest big news out of the Ukraine is? No? There is a mini-Maidan under way and Ukrainian nationalists seem to hope that Poroshenko will be kicked out before the end of the week. You did not know? Well, that is the real big news, the fact that you did not hear about this. Truthfully, what is going on is kind of interesting. Let me sum it up: the former President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili (who was stripped from his Georgian citizenship and of his Ukrainian citizenship) recently crossed the border (through Poland, of course) and proceeded to travel to Kiev to demand Poroshenko’s resignation. You think that I am kidding? Check t he Wikipedia article about him , it has all the details. It gets better. There is a consensus amongst analysts that Saakashvili is being used as a battering ram by somebody far more ...

The Hezbollah (“Party of God”) movement was formed in 1982 in Lebanon by a segment of the Shia community displeased with the secular, in their view, nature of the Amal moderate Shia party. There were also disagreements concerning whether Israel should be confronted using new organizational forms and methods of warfare. According to its Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, since its formation, Hezbollah was a purely intra-Lebanese creation, relying on the support and aid from the Palestinian and Lebanese parties, while the support from Iran and Syria came later. Since the very beginning, Hezbollah’s activities have been based on three principles. First, Islam is declared an ideological, doctrinal, and practical basis for the organization’s functions. Secondly, its main aim is the struggle against Israeli occupation of Lebanon and Palestine and against Zionist domination. Third, it recognizes the Iranian Shia thesis concerning the necessity of Vilayat-e-Fakih. This Shia doctrine assert...

On October 26, the US-based Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) and its Brazilian partner Embraer Defense and Security announced in a press release that the US purchased 6 additional A-29 warplanes for the “Afghanistan Program”. The A-29 is a light warplane that’s used by the Afghan Air Force as a Counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft. The warplane is also used in aerial reconnaissance mission, and for training Afghan Air Force pilots. The total Number of A-29 warplanes that have been bought by the US for the Afghanistan Program is now 26. However, only 12 are currently in service with the Afghan Air Force. Afghanistan received the last batch of four A-29s at the end of March. Meanwhile another seven warplanes are stationed at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, US for pilot training. The warplanes will be handed over to the Afghan Air Force in the upcoming months, according to Afghan officials. “We believe this decision demonstrates that the A-29 Super Tucano is the best aircraft for...