ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Global Empire or Fortress America?   Written and produced by SF Team: J.Hawk, Daniel Deiss, Edwin Watson While on the campaign trail, President-Elect Donald J. Trump made a range of statements suggesting a shift away from a policy of interventionism, combined with a focus on safeguarding US borders and jobs at the expense of the dominant ideology of globalism. Can and will he deliver on these promises? There are many reasons to believe he will genuinely push US foreign policy in this direction, but at the same time he will face obstacles on his path. One of the factors clearly helping him is the increasingly indisputable fact that globalism as an ideology has been discredited, except, ironically, among the liberal “creative classes” and among the financial elites. The rest of the society and of the elite is increasingly skeptical of such policies if not downright opposed to them, which means they are willing to experiment with eco

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (3:50 P.M.) - The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has made several advances inside the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo today, capturing approximately 40-45 percent of the last jihadist pocket in the provincial capital. Led by the elite Tiger Forces, the Syrian Arab Army managed to capture the Sheikh Fares, Haydariyah, and Al-Sakhour districts of east Aleppo today after overrunning the jihadist rebels in the northern pocket of this contested region. Following the capture of those aforementioned districts, the Syrian Armed Forces seized the Scientific Research Facility in the Jabal Badro area, killing a dozen militants before continuing their advance westward. Northwest of Jabal Badro, the Syrian Arab Army's Republican Guard, alongside Liwaa Al-Quds (Palestinian paramilitary), launched their first attack on the Ma'asaraniyah Youth Housing Complex near the 'Ard Al-Hamra District. Despite reports of the Syrian Armed Forces capturing the Youth Housing Complex, Al-Masda

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (4:50 P.M.) - Hezbollah and Harakat Al-Nujaba (Iraqi paramilitary) have mobilized a large force in the southern countryside of Aleppo, as they prepare to launch a massive offensive that is expected to rival their 2015 assault. According to a Syrian Army source in Aleppo city, Hezbollah and Harakat Al-Nujaba have been increasing their manpower for several days now, in preparation for their offensive to recapture the key town of Khan Touman. Khan Touman is strategically located along the Aleppo-Damascus Highway (M-5 Highway) in southern Aleppo; its proximity to the jihadist stronghold of Saraqib in Idlib makes the seizure of this town a top priority for Hezbollah and Harakat Al-Nujaba. While Al-Masdar cannot confirm Hezbollah's plans after Khan Touman; it is very likely that they will make a major push to lift the siege on the predominately Shi'i towns of Kafraya and Al-Fou'aa near the provincial capital of Idlib. In order to reach Al-Fou'aa and Kafraya

The city of Al-Bab is located in the northern part of the Aleppo Province (about 36km northeast of Aleppo, about 26km south of border with Turkey), and remains under ISIS control. Its strategic importance increased after Kurdish and SDF forces took Manbij which had served as an important ISIS logistical node for 2.5 years, helping transfer jihadists from Turkey to Syria and back, and also facilitating oil and arms shipments. The Arabic name of the city translates as “the gate” which is entirely reflected by its current importance. Click to see the full-size map The Parties’ Interests The Kurds want to take Al-Bab to reassemble the fragmented Shahba canton (with a administrative center of Tal Rifaat and Manbij), consolidate the areas they control, and proclaim a Syrian Kurdistan as an independent country or a broad autonomy nominally within the SAR. Turkey is implementing Operation Euphrates Shield, with Turkish Army regular units and the so-called FSA ( Ahrar al-Sham, Sultan Murad D

The Iraqi military has received 10 BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles from Bulgaria, according to Iraqi media outlets. The Soviet-made IFVs will serve as yet another tool in the fight against terrorist in the war-torn country. The deal hasn’t officially been reveled as there’s no information in the Bulgarian media, nor any official statements from the Bulgarian government. However, pictures and videos of the vehicles have been posted at the Iraqi news outlets. It’s a public secret that Bulgaria has been one of the top players on the black market for arms in the Middle East, selling all kinds of small weapons, tanks, IFVs and other equipment to both the Syrian and Iraqi governments but also to all the various types of rebel groups and terrorists. The country has had one of the biggest arms reserves left from the Cold War. Earlier this year, reports suggested that Bulgaria had delivered T-72 battle tanks to Iraq.

Corruption and voter intimidation have engulfed the ongoing parliamentary elections in Somalia, the auditor general told the BBC. Bribes of between $1,000 - $5,000 have been paid according to Gen Nur Farah Jimale. The BBC has reported that some candidates have been offering bribes of up to $1.3m to secure votes. They never specified who. Gen Nur told the BBC Somali Service that some seats should be re-run because money had been used to "out-manoeuvre" other candidates. This is despite the elections being conducted by the United Nations. Cases of government resources being used in the election have also been documented, he continued.

NGOs: Grassroots Empowerment or Tool of Information Warfare?   During the early phases of the post-Cold War “New World Order,” NGOs were touted as representing a new wave of international politics. Instead of allowing international issues to be settled in closed meetings, the people themselves, informed by intrepid citizen journalists, would from now on play the key role in setting the agenda. Like most of the promises made in the 1990s, this one also failed to deliver. It became clear that many NGOs, far from representing the “grass roots” of politics, were more akin to the artificial grass-like stadium surface known in the US as “astroturf”. It may look and even, to a degree, feel like the genuine article, but it most certainly is not. Many NGOs, while presenting a public image of bottom-up activism, were funded by major corporations or governments, which had the effect of depriving them of their indepe

Click to see the full-size image The “ Armata ” Universal Combat Platform is a Russian advanced next generation heavy military tracked vehicle platform. It’s the basis of the T-14, the T-15 and several other types of engineering, artillery vehicles. The platform is designed to replace the older Russian battle tanks and military vehicles that are currently used by the Russian military. The T-15 IFV commenced trials in 2014 and was first publicly revealed in 2015. A first batch of pre-production vehicles was delivered in 2015.