ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Written by Boyan Chukov; Originally appeared at A-specto , tranlsated by Desi Tzoneva exclusively for SouthFront Turkish Prime Minister, Binali Yildirim, returned from a visit to Moscow a few days ago. Previously, Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a statement that Ankara will seek to become a member of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization). A proposal for amendment of the Turkish Constitution was submitted to the Turkish parliament, moving the country to a presidential regime. It is an old dream of Recep Erdogan. If these adjustments are made, the constitution will abolish the post of a prime minister. The president will appoint ministers. As a whole, the Turkish President will become a true “Sultan”. Comments on these events had not subsided yet when on 10th December 2016, Istanbul was covered in blood again. Two blasts exploded in the center of the city, near the football stadium, “Besiktas”. 38 people were killed. 30 of them were employees of law enforcement. The youth organization, ‘

Source: VPK/Andrey Sedih Written by Yevgeny Satanovskiy; Originally appeared at VPK , translated by Alice Decker exclusively for SouthFront On December 11, militants from the “Islamic State” (IS), which is banned in Russia, forced Assad’s troops out of Tadmora, historic Palmyra, for the second time and captured the provincial town of world historical significance — not so important strategically, unless you take into account the nearby intersection with the road leading to Deir ez Zor, besieged by IS for several years, with its refineries and air force base. Characteristically, the attacking forces of five thousand fighters with tanks, armored personnel carriers and rocket artillery made their way through the desert for several hundred kilometers without being detected by Assad’s intelligence, which makes experts speak of a possible betrayal at the highest level of the Syrian army command and its Mukhabarat (or military intelligence). Betrayal or Gullibility? The specific question is,

A Chinese Navy ship stole an American underwater research drone in full view of a US crew in the area of the South China Sea, contested by China and the Philippines. Engineers inspect a littoral battlespace sensing glider aboard the USNS Pathfinder in 2010 (Photo: US Navy) An American underwater research drone was stolen by a Chinese Navy ship in full view of a US crew in the area of the South China Sea, contested by China and the Philippines , the Fox News TV-channel reported on Friday, citing US defense officials. The incident took place approximately 65 kilometers west of the Philippines and about 240 kilometers from Scarborough Shoal on Thursday around noon local time. Reportedly, the Chinese ship had been secretly monitoring the American USNS Bowditch ship, which deployed the drone, a Slocum Glider, during several days. “This is an act of war against the United States,” analyst and author of ‘The Coming Collapse of China’, Gordon Chang, told Fox News. According to Chang, the move

The war in Syria and the simmering conflict on the Donbass have tended to obscure significant changes within the Russian Ground Forces, namely the raising of new motorized rifle and tank divisions on the basis of permanent readiness brigades, the reactivation of regiments within existing reduced-strength divisions, and the creation of numerous artillery and air defense brigades and other non-divisional units apparently for inclusion in the combined arms and tank armies for which the new divisions are being intended. News reports from just the last few weeks have identified the following units undergoing reactivation procedures: The 42nd Guards Red Banner Evpatoriya Motorized Rifle Division, which is being rebuilt using two motorized rifle brigades stationed within the Republic of Chechnya, assigned to the 58th Army of the Southern Military District. The 90th Guards Twice Red Banner Vitebsk-Novgorod Tank Division, being reconstituted on the basis of the 7th Guards Separate Tank Brigade

US Army soldiers stand at attention before a homecoming ceremony at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado February 12, 2009 (Photo: Reuters / Rick Wilking) The US Army’s Reserve (USAR) plans to establish units of highly combat readiness, new commander of the USAR, Lieutenant-General Charles Luckey, said in an interview with a group of journalists on Monday. As Luckey admitted, there is still no full understanding of how these units would look. He specified that they are still trying to decide how such formations would look and what military plans would define the requirements, imposed on them. However, Luckey also confirmed that he has already required his command structure to explore the question of what kind of forces and means of the USAR can be provided to combat units in the case of receiving a request without prior warning at this stage. The US Army ‘s Reserve is going to be ready for combat deployment “in less than 90 days [before it] and, in some cases, significantly l

The Rome mayor believes that mayors of European cities should be the first, who will welcome refugees with “warmth, shelter and accommodation.” Rome mayor Virginia Raggi said mayors need to welcome refugees with open arms (Photo: vilaglato.info) Mayors need to be the first, who will welcome refugees with “warmth, shelter and accommodation,” Rome mayor Virginia Raggi told an immigration summit of European city. The statement was made just days after neighbors, shouting “We do not want these n*****s,” prevented a Moroccan family from moving into a council flat in Rome, given to them by the authorities. “Our cities seem to be closed off with their self-interest and the mayors are the ones who should give the first reception,” Raggi said. “We must guarantee human warmth, shelter, accommodation.” She also added that the attitude that has been seen “offends our dignity as mayors and people.” “For this we must take action, even more in the suburbs, which are the most abandoned parts of

This is the newst update of the ‘U.S. Carrier Strike Groups Locations Map’ exclusive series showing the approximate locations of U.S. Carrier Strike Groups on a weekly basis. SouthFront: Analysis & Intelligence tracks locations of U.S. aircraft carriers using the available open-source information. No classified information was used in production of the map. Click to see the full-size map Carrier strike group (CSG) is an operational formation of the United States Navy. It is centered on an aircraft carrier and a carrier air wing (CVW) of 65 to 70 aircrafts. It’s composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a destroyer squadron of at least two destroyers and/or frigates. A carrier strike group also, on occasion, includes submarines, attached logistics ships and a supply ship. Carrier strike groups comprise a principal element of U.S. power projection over the world’s oceans.

As time passes in the 21st century, things seemingly look to become worse throughout time, Time no longer plays the role of fine wine and becomes better over time, rather it seems to be worsening and rotting out. This consistent time of rotting, poor decision-making, and poor leadership leads to countries and cities becoming more aggressive, therefore becoming more unsafe. Several cities have been labeled as a "ticking time-bomb" in regard to when times reach a certain point. There is fear in these specific cities that things will become extremely violent and very unsafe. Part of the reasoning for this increase in violence also ranges from hatred and the economic conditions of the world. Specifically in the United States these issues are worsening and it is quickly occurring. As Wired reported, disaster is looming on a worldwide basis, but some are approaching total collapse, thanks to a storm of factors: Using data on 2,100 cities, Robert Muggah has found which factors ma