ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Travelers who keep an eye on U.S. State Department warnings may know by now that the department has issued cautions for the Mexican states of Quintana Roo and Baja California Sur. The addition of those states to the government's periodic updates of travel dangers caused a significant stir, largely because they are the homes to two of Mexico's most popular resorts: Cancun and Cabo San Lucas. It is not surprising that these states were included in the warning, which was issued Aug. 22.  As Mexico's powerful drug cartels have splintered , a spiral of crime and violence has enveloped all parts of the country, to include its storied resorts. However, I believe that by understanding what drives the violence, and the types of the incidents that result, companies operating in Mexico and travelers to the country can avoid most of it. Cartel Balkanization and the Spread of Violence For well more than a decade, Stratfor has kept an eye on Mexico's powerful drug-traffi

© AFP 2017/ KIM JAE-HWAN US President Donald Trump has found a way to thrive on tensions with North Korea. The US president claimed on Tuesday that the US would allow South Korea and Japan to buy more “highly sophisticated” US military equipment in response to the so-called North Korea threat.  Follow Donald J. Trump   ✔ @realDonaldTrump I am allowing Japan & South Korea to buy a substantially increased amount of highly sophisticated military equipment from the United States. 14:36 - 5 Sep 2017   18,954 18,954 Replies     30,341 30,341 Retweets     111,338 111,338 likes Twitter Ads information and privacy Trump did not reveal what kind of equipment he had in mind. However, the White House said the president was willing to approve the sale of “many billions of dollars’ worth of military weapons and equipment” to South Korea. Trump’s statement followed North Korea’s six nuclar test that took place on Sunday. The US preside

Written by  The Saker ; Originally appeared at  his blog It is difficult to talk to people who confuse Austria and Australia. But there is nothing we can do about this; this is the level of political culture among part of the American establishment. As for the American people, America is truly a great nation if the Americans can put up with so many politically uncivilised people. Vladimir Putin Wow.  Even though I have just written a commentary on the level of frustration and, frankly, contempt, the Russians are feeling towards their American counterparts, these words by Vladimir Putin are truly a slap in the face that will resonate around the world for a long time to come even if the imperial corporate media makes another herculean effort at not noticing them.   I can only repeated what I said in my previous article, I have never ever heard anything even remotely resembling the kind of language coming out of Russia today. By the way, Putin confirmed what I wrote yesterda

Iranian air defense missiles (Photo: AFP) Iran has closed its airspace for US and Saudi Arabia as well as for other countries that have attacked Yemen, the Iranian FARS News agency reported citing Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier Gen Farzad Esmayeeli. “After the cruelties against Yemen and given the fact that the military system of a country is not separate from its government and trade system, therefore, we cannot show double-standard behavior towards the world and for instance, when we say that the US is a world arrogant power, therefore,  we don’t allow the US aircraft, even passenger planes, to fly over the Islamic Republic of Iran because we are against its government’s policies ,” FARS News quoted Gen Esmayeeli as saying on Tuesday. According to FARS News, the decision will also impact other countries which have attacked Yemen, including Saudi Arabia.

Tensions have risen dramatically in the Korean Peninsula after  North Korea  tested an intercontinental ballistic missile last month. Since the 1960s, North Korea has been trying to develop nuclear capabilities, much to the dismay of  South Korea , a close ally of the  United States . North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un has steadily increased the number of ballistic missile tests since he  came to power after his father Kim Jong-Il passed away in 2011 . The country's  nuclear programme was launched in the Soviet era with the construction of its first nuclear reactor in Yongbyon in 1965, but it  c arried out its first successful nuclear test in 2006 . After withdrawing from the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty in 2003, North Korea has gone on to  conduct  several nuclear tests, most recently in September 2016. Pyongyang has also  ground-tested  a new rocket engine   and  test-launched  ballistic missiles. The reclusive state's nuclear and ballistic programmes have  invite

FILE IMAGE: Facebook, Special Air Service Regiment The UK has quietly halted its efforts to train the so-called Syrian moderate opposition within a network of camps established in Turkey, Jordan and Syria, the Telegraph reported. One of the camps where UK special forces were training the “opposition” was the at-Tanf garrison controlled by the US-led coalition in southeastern Syria. According to the Telegraph, the UK Defense Ministry has confirmed the last 20 UK soldiers involved in the program returned home. The UK troops were involved in the Pentagon’s $500m program aimed at training and equipping 5,000 “moderate opposition” fighters. However, the effort clearly failed.

Written by  Dennis M. Nilsen The Israeli State founded in 1948 has consistently maintained a firm foreign policy of active defense against its regional neighbors who, since independence, have engaged in at least four wars against it.  This state of perpetual insecurity has forced all political parties within Israel to pursue a regional foreign policy of divide and manage in order to prevent the emergence of a powerful, ideologically-united military bloc able to viably oppose its actions, despite the uncritical support of the United States.  In on-the-ground terms, all Muslims in the Middle East possess a cultural dislike of the Israelis because of gross displacement of the Palestinian people during the 1948 War of Independence and the 1967 occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights.  While Israel has withdrawn from Gaza, it still occupies Golan, internationally recognized as belonging to Syria, a majority of the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Click to see the full-si