ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

By Scott Stewart In the wake of the assault on Nairobi's Westgate Mall , one of the media narratives that has fascinated me has been the focus on Samantha Lewthwaite, the so-called "white widow" of deceased suicide bomber Germaine Lindsay , who was one of the men responsible for the London Subway bombings on July 7, 2005. Really, the press coverage of Lewthwaite following the Westgate attack has been more like a media storm than a narrative, especially in Lewthwaite's home country, the United Kingdom. A British newspaper even published an article about the style of knickers she prefers. The nonsensical media coverage of Lewthwaite (and her knickers) typifies an issue that has bothered me for some time. The press, and indeed even some analysts, tend to overstate the importance of some jihadists merely because they speak English, or were born in an English-speaking country. The Lewthwaite Case Despite some witness reports from Nairobi claiming that an English-speaking w

Summary The timing of a North Korean delegation's visit to Iran for "friendship week" suggests that more than just a cultural exchange is taking place. The apparent U.S.-Russia agreement on Syria and the early steps toward dialogue between Washington and Tehran can help Pyongyang gauge any possible rapprochement with the United States. They also emphasize how differently North Korea formulates its strategy to deal with Washington. Analysis Under the auspice of the DPRK-Iran Friendship Association, North Korea and Iran mark friendship weeks nearly every year, but these usually come earlier in the year, between February and June. They also typically involve Iranian diplomats who are already stationed in North Korea, not North Korean delegations traveling to Iran. North Korean Labor Minister Jong Yong Su, the head of the association since 2005, has long-established relations with Tehran, and these ties may allow for a more candid dialogue between the two states -- a prospec

Tripoli announced recently that it would extend registration deadlines for nearly 100 local council elections that have been delayed for months due to weak voter interest. The central government's urgency about holding local elections reflects its growing reliance on a widening pool of disparate rural authorities -- a departure from its post-revolutionary model of working with larger regional power centers to maintain a fragile peace . Tripoli's weakened hold over Libyan security and power became evident soon after the ouster of former leader Moammar Gadhafi in October 2011. The interim authority that replaced him, the National Transitional Council, was tasked with holding together a country that is naturally fractured by geography and regional differences , without the strong security and political tools of the Gadhafi regime. The result has been a complicated system of interdependence between the central government and Libya's various urban centers and their respe

Summary For the second day in a row, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has denied that the recent death of Mojtaba Ahmadi, an Iranian allegedly working under a cyberwarfare unit linked to the corps, was an assassination. The murky details surrounding Ahmadi's death raise many more questions than answers, but the information released so far does not appear to support widespread speculation that this was either an Israeli-orchestrated operation or the result of an IRGC power struggle amid a developing U.S.-Iranian dialogue. Analysis Mojtaba Ahmadi was found dead Oct. 2 in a forested area near his home in the town of Karaj, northwest of Tehran. An eyewitness at the scene of the police investigation told Alborz news agency, a regional media outlet based in northwestern Iran, that Ahmadi had two bullet wounds in his chest, suggesting he was shot at close range. The local police chief also told Alborz that two motorcycles were seeing fleeing the scene. Footage of Ahmadi'

Though Australia has prodigious natural gas resources, the country's geology, remoteness and economy have put it in a difficult position in competing financially with other growing natural gas producers. However, timing has been on Canberra's side. The technological revolutions that led other producers such as the United States to increase natural gas production occurred after Australia had begun developing its own expensive resources, so Canberra had a few years' head start in getting large quantities of natural gas to the market. As a result, Australia's liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports will rival the size of Qatar's, allowing it to become the largest exporter to the Asian market by 2020. Yet Australia's continued growth in natural gas exports could cease after the first wave of LNG projects come online, because capital that could be spent on increasing Australia's export capacity now has other, more profitable destinations that did not exist when A

Turkey agreed in principle Sept. 26 to purchase the HQ-9 , a long-range air defense system made by Chinese defense contractor China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corp. Turkish President Abdullah Gul has said that the deal is not yet final, and Ankara has since backed away amid pressure from its NATO allies and from Turkish interest groups, but the HQ-9 remains at the top of a very short list of air defense options. The HQ-9 presents several challenges to Ankara. The United States and NATO have warned Turkey repeatedly that because of security issues, the HQ-9 would be difficult to integrate with the rest of Turkey's NATO aligned air defense architecture -- specifically the NATO Air Defense Ground Environment. More important, there are political and security concerns involved in integrating Chinese software and hardware into the network. Should the HQ-9 be excluded from the network, Turkey would have to build up its own independent air defense network. Military equipment must

The Naval Update Map shows the approximate current locations of U.S. Carrier Strike Groups and Amphibious Ready Groups, based on available open-source information. No classified or operationally sensitive information is included in this weekly update. CSGs and ARGs are the keys to U.S. dominance of the world's oceans. A CSG is centered on an aircraft carrier, which projects U.S. naval and air power and supports a Carrier Air Wing, or CVW. The CSG includes significant offensive strike capability. An ARG is centered on three amphibious warfare ships, with a Marine Expeditionary Unit embarked. An MEU is built around a heavily reinforced and mobile battalion of Marines. Carrier Strike Groups The USS Nimitz CSG with Carrier Air Wing 11 embarked is conducting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet AOR. The USS Harry S Truman CSG with Carrier Air Wing 3 embarked is underway in the U.S. 5th Fleet AOR supporting maritime security o

Summary The United States continues to face obstacles in its policy of "pivoting" toward the Asia-Pacific. On Oct. 2, the White House canceled President Barack Obama's visit to Malaysia and the Philippines, slated to take place Oct. 11-12, citing "logistical" difficulties as a result of the partial federal government shutdown. Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will travel in his stead, while Obama himself will not travel to these countries until a later unspecified date. So far, Obama is still expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bali and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders' meeting and East Asia Summit in Brunei from October 7-10, where heads of government will meet. But further cancellations cannot be ruled out. Analysis The cancellation points to Washington's continued trouble finding the capacity to maintain i