ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Neil Clark It’s not a nice thing when someone else takes the credit for the hard work you’ve been doing. It’s even worse when the same person criticizes you while praising themselves to the rafters. That’s what’s happening to Russia in relation to its anti-terror op in Syria. The state-owned France 2 channel has used images of Russian air strikes in Syria - not to applaud Moscow’s efforts in the fight against ISIS, but to illustrate the ‘achievements’ of the Western/Gulf coalition (of which France is a member) instead. The same news report strongly criticized the Russian actions, while all the time showing footage of how Russia was kicking ISIS butt- or rather ISIS derriere. Just how unfair is that? Perhaps next week France’s state television will be showing footage of the Red Army’s victory over the Wehrmacht at the Battle of Kursk to a voiceover lauding France’s heroic anti-Nazi effort in WW2. Or showing and old film of Sputnik 1 being launched into space and saying it was a “West

The relationships between NATO and Russia have slid down toward a new Cold War, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a panel discussion during the Munich Security Conference, describing NATO's policy as "unfriendly and not transparent." "Almost every day we are referred to as the most terrible threat to NATO as a whole or to Europe, America and other countries specifically," Medvedev said. "Although actual threats that exist in our small world - and I hope, you understand that - are absolutely different." My conclusion before the Munich Security Conference — the world is a more dangerous, darker place pic.twitter.com/ADoh8qnDys — Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) February 11, 2016 Earlier in the day, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg reiterated plans for massive military build-up on its eastern flank – the largest since the Cold War – to counter "Russia's actions." He added that relations with Russia would be based upon "def

Meeting in Munich on February 11 & 12, 2016, as the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), the Arab League, China, Egypt, the EU, France, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United Nations, and the United States decided that humanitarian access will commence this week to besieged areas, and an ISSG task force will within one week elaborate modalities for a nationwide cessation of hostilities. The ISSG members unanimously committed to immediately facilitate the full implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2254, adopted unanimously December 18, 2015. The ISSG reaffirmed their readiness to carry out all commitments set forth in the resolution, including to: ensure a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition based on the Geneva Communiqué in its entirety; press for the end of any indiscriminate use of weapons; support and acce

World powers have agreed to seek a nationwide "cessation of hostilities" in Syria to begin in a week's time, after talks in Munich, Germany. The halt will not apply to the battle against jihadist groups Islamic State (IS) and al-Nusra Front. The 17-member International Syria Support Group (ISSG) also agreed to accelerate and expand aid deliveries. The announcement comes as the Syrian army, backed by Russian air strikes, advances in Aleppo province. The move threatens to encircle tens of thousands of civilians in rebel-held parts of the major city of Aleppo. The Syrian government has not yet responded, though a key rebel coalition welcomed the announcement. "If we see action and implementation on the ground, we will be soon in Geneva," Salim al-Muslat told reporters, referring to the Swiss city where the UN is trying to get peace talks between the Syrian government and rebels off the ground. More than 250,000 people have been killed and 13.5 million displaced in

Ankara has completed its military op against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels in Turkey’s southeastern town of Cizre, its Interior Minister has announced. Hundreds of Kurds were killed in the fighting, including some 60 people trapped in a basement. “The operations in Cizre were completed in a very successful fashion,” Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala told local media without going into details, Reuters reports. “The curfew will continue for a while longer. There are traps and mines in certain areas that could harm people. Closing the ditches and removing barricades will take a bit of time,” he added. Last week, Ala said the operation was “99.5 percent complete” and would not be expanded. Turkey launched its military operation in the southeastern part of the country in July of 2015, breaking a ceasefire signed in 2013. Turkish security forces entered a number of Kurdish settlements in armored vehicles to take on PKK fighters, but civilians were caught up in the conflict as well

MUNICH, Germany: Moscow warned Thursday that any move by Gulf nations to send in troops to support the rebels in Syria would risk a “new world war.” It also said that it had made a “quite specific” cease-fire proposal for Syria as foreign ministers gathered in Munich, hoping to revive a floundering peace process amid warnings of a “new world war.” Meanwhile, a Saudi source said a new Saudi-led coalition to fight “terrorism” in Islamic countries will gather in the kingdom next month for its first publicly announced meeting. This development came days after the kingdom, which backs some of the rebels that Moscow is helping to defeat, has floated the idea of sending ground troops to help the U.S. effort against Daesh (ISIS). This was criticized by Russian premier Dmitry Medvedev, who said, “The Americans and our [Arab] partners must think hard about this: Do they want a permanent war?” he told Germany’s Handelsblatt daily. “We made propositions for a cease-fire that are quite specific,” R

African Union says armed group is hoping to stage attacks disguised as AMISOM troops, using uniforms it took from them. The African Union (AU) says the al-Qaeda-linked armed group, al-Shabab, is planning attacks in Somalia using AU troop uniforms as disguises. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) said the uniforms were stolen by al-Shabab fighters from military camps belonging to the 22,000-strong UN-mandated mission. "AMISOM has information that due to panic [al-Shabab] have plans to masquerade as AMISOM and dress in AMISOM troop's uniforms," AMISOM said in a statement on its Twitter account. "These uniforms were accessed from AMISOM camps in the past and disguised as such, AS [al-Shabab] are organising to carry out atrocities. Planned atrocities are in areas generally controlled by FGS & AMISOM in order to turn the people against AMISOM by depicting it as the enemy," AMISOM said. Several AMISOM bases have been recently overrun by the al-Qaeda-li

Japan bans North Korean ships from its ports, as South Korea announces closure of joint industrial park on border. Japan is to impose new sanctions on North Korea to protest against a rocket launch seen as a test of missile technology. The sanctions will include expanded restrictions on travel between the two countries and a complete ban on visits by North Korean ships to Japanese ports, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga announced at a news conference on Wednesday. "Despite our repeated requests to stop nuclear tests and missile development, (North Korea) pushed ahead with the launch. It has a direct impact on Japan and we need to show our strong determination," Suga said. He said, however, that Japan will keep a door open for dialogue to resolve the still-outstanding issue of Japanese citizens who were abducted by North Korea decades ago. North Korea launched a long-range rocket into space on Sunday carrying what it said was an Earth observation satellite. T