ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

It took 70 years, but the European Union finally signed a pact today (Nov. 13) agreeing to integrate military funding, weapons development, and deployment of European defenses. In a way, creating a unified mega army. US president’s Donald Trump’s frequent accusations that EU countries do not pay enough into NATO has been one catalyst for them move forward with a unified plan for military cooperation. The other is that it could legitimately diminish the bloc’s dependence on US military support. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, called the pact “historic” as “the real problem is not how much we spend, it is the fact we spend in a fragmented manner.” She also said it would strengthen the work of the US-led Nato. The UK had always resisted the idea of joint EU defense, fearing some kind of big “European army,” but the country’s planned exit from the bloc has removed that hurdle, allowing 23 other EU countries to move forward. Once Brexit happens, the UK could still possi

ANWAR AMRO (AFP/File) The crisis in the Middle East and in Saudi Arabia in particular leads to further escalation in the region. Anticipating the collapse of ISIS, the participants in the conflict act with intensity. Since our October 8 report on the issue entitled “ The Saudi Purge: The Middle East Is On The Verge Of New War “, the situation has deteorated further in the region. In Saudi Arabia, the purge continues. The Middle East Eye  reports  that senior Saudi figures were tortured and beaten in the purge under the banner of an anti-corruption movement, conducted by current Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He has overseen arrests of hundreds of people, including senior royals, ministers and tycoons, with some of them reportedly being tortured so badly during their arrest or subsequent interrogations that they required hospital treatment. Even Prince Bandar bin Sultan — Saudi Arabia’s most famous arms dealer, longtime former ambassador to the US, and recent head of Saudi

Photo: RIA/Aleksey Davichev According  www.alyaoum24.com , Morocco considers buying Russian S-400 missile systems in order to diversify their military, as Morocco wants to be prepared for future wars. The Moroccan-Russian negotiations came to a close on October 11 during an official visit of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to Morocco. 11 agreements were signed, agricultural, educational, tourism, energy and military spheres. Morocco takes part in joint military production projects with India, China and Brazil. They are interested in acquiring anti-air missile defense systems, by way of licensing production from other countries. Military expert Abdel Rahman Mekkawi considers the transaction a decision to be made primarily by Russia, as a sort of balancing measure between Morocco and Algiers in Northern Africa. In an Akhbar Al Yaum interview, Mekkawi said that Morocco and Russia have a lot of common military interests in Northern Africa. He added, that future wars in

Palestinian leaders of the Islamic Jihad movement in the West Bank, Jaafar Ezzeddine (R) and Tariq Qaadan (C) answer journalists’ questions after their release from an Israeli prison in the West Bank city of Jalama, near Jenin, on May 8, 2013.. (photo credit:SAIF DAHLAH / AFP) The IDF arrested an Islamic Jihad leader in the West Bank on November 13 morning, an IDF spokesperson said in a statement. The Jerusalem Post  reported  that the person in question is Tariq Qa’adan, arrested for his “activities” in Islamic Jihad. “This unjust arrest of the leader Qa’adan is a part of the occupation’s latest escalation against Islamic Jihad and our people,” Islamic Jihad said in statement, according to Palestine Today. This arrest follows the statement by Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Major Gen. Yoav (Poli) Mordechai  issued  on November 11, in which he warned Islamic Jihad against escalating the situation. “We are aware of the plot being waged by Palestinia

Click to see the full-size image. Source: https://twitter.com/LCarabinier On November 12, Arez Abdullah, head of the parliamentary bloc of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) announced that the PUK will be running in the upcoming Iraqi Parliament elections (scheduled for May 15, 2018) according to a report of the Kurdish media outlet Rudaw. The PUK was formed in 1975 by a group of Kurdish politics who defected from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Jalal Talabani was among them. He later became the first president of Iraq after Saddam was removed. After Talabani death on October 3, 2017, his son Bafel Talabani succeeded him as the de-facto leader of the PUK. The PUK party is very popular in western Kurdistan Region, epically in the party’s heartland, Sulaymaniyah city. Today, the party has 21 MPs in the Iraqi Parliament and only 18 in the Kurdistan Region Parliament. However, it’s still considered the second biggest Kurdish party in Iraq. Meanwhile, the head of elect

The Saudi Authorities arrested Prince Bandar bin Sultan as a part of  the anti-corruption” purge that was launched by Saudi Arabia King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman , according to a report of the Middle East Eye (MEE) online news portal. Prince Bandar is a former Saudi ambassador to the US, and he is known to be a friend of former US President George W Bush, and former Syrian president Hafez Assad. Prince Bandar become really famous in 2011 when he was tasked with leading the Saudi efforts to fight Syria president Bashar al-Assad. Prince Bandar quickly become known as “the engineer of the Syria war” after he organized everything about the war, from the political opposition to armed groups in Syria. According to many reports the Prince was behind shipping tons of weapons and thousands of Jihadists from all over the world to feed the war against the Syrian government. The engineer of the Syrian war went to great length while trying to re

On November 12, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement reached a ceasefire agreement, according to the HTS-linked news agency Iba’a. The source said that the ceasefire is sponsored by leaders of the local tribes. Earlier, public figures from Atarib town in the western Aleppo countryside called on Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement to stop the clashes, and stressed that the locals will defend their areas from any attackers this time. Before the ceasefire took place, Iba’a announced that the Ajnad al-Sham armed group joined HTS. In an official statement, Ajnad al-Sham said that it chose  to be a part of “the Sunni body”. Meanwhile, the Hezbollah media wing in Syria revealed that 100 fighters were killed in the clashes between HTS and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement in the western Aleppo countryside. The high number of casualties suggests that the groups will likely cl

The USS Ronald Reagan, USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Nimitz and their multi-ship strike groups are participating in military exercises off the Korean Peninsula. The exercises started on November 11 and are set to end on November 14. It is the first time three of the US aircraft carriers have sailed together in more than a decade. A US nuclear sumbarine has been also deployed in the region, according to reports. In turn, North Korea described US President Donald Trump as a “destroyer” who “begged for nuclear war”. “His current trip [Asia tour] to our surrounding region is a warmonger’s visit for confrontation to rid the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) of its self-defensive nuclear deterrence,” North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement published by Korean Central News Agency. Donald J. Trump   ✔ @realDonaldTrump Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me "old," when I would NEVER call him "short and fat?" Oh well