ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

FILE IMAGE: AFP On November 28, SouthFront released a video analysis entitled “ Would Anyone Profit From a New War in the Middle East? ”. The video sated that the possibility of a new war in the region in the near future was relatively low because no regional player was interested in it. The only side, which could be interested in a new conflict, was the United States because such a war will contribute to interests of the American military industrial complex and lead to the growth of oil prices. High oil prices will impact positively the US shale oil production. However, it was hard to expect developments, which took place this week. On December 6, US President Donald Trump officially recognized the city of Jerusalem as Israel’s true capital and declared an official intent to move the US embassy there. The decision faced a condemnation from the regional powers, including Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Algeria, Turkey, Qatar and Iran, and the international community. The observed reduc...

On December 8, Yasser Dahla, a commander of the Arab al-Bagharah tribe forces in the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), defected with its fighters and joined the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), according to opposition and pro-government sources. A field commander of al-Bagharah tribe forces named Abu al-Majad al-Rifi was also among those who had defected from the SDF, according to reports. The Al-Bagarah tribe is the biggest tribe in eastern Syrian and was one of the key Arab allies of the SDF. However, tensions between the tribe and the SDF erupted when SDF fighters looted the tribe’s villages on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River. Later, opposition sources reported that the tension between al-Bagharah tribe and the SDF reached a dangerous level when the SDF leadership ignored the the tribe’s leaders demand to put an end to the looting during a meeting on November 27. Dahla himself was reportedly arrested with four of his fighters on October 1 after refusing to obey the ...

Written by  James Petras ; Originally appeared at  The Unz Review Introduction Major changes are roiling the states, societies and ruling classes of the biggest industrial economies, oil regimes and military complexes. China is re-allocating its economic wealth toward building the most extensive modern infrastructure system in history, linking four continents. Saudi Arabia is transferring a trillion dollars of pillage from princes to princes, from old business parasites to up-to-date versions, from austere desert mirages to fantasies of new mega-cities. The United States is emptying the swamp of the Capital’s corruption and immediately replenishing it with the scandal of the day. One Cabinet Secretary is fired; another Secretary is hired; one enemy is embraced; an ally denounced; the stock market flourishes and trade agreements are abandoned. One tax is sliced and pleases the powerful; another is spliced and chokes the consumers. Turmoil, some would say; chao...

According to a recent report, a group of Chinese researchers has allegedly finished “ the first long-distance quantum secure direct communication .” This could significantly advance the technology that allows the sending of messages that are totally “safe from eavesdropping.” In a paper published on Oct. 22, the team of researchers wrote that the information traveled 2.7 kilometers via a quantum channel. This breakthrough is important because once it’s verified, it can be “a critical step forward in the pursuit of communication” that no longer needs end-to-end encryption and can never be “secretly intercepted by a third party.” (Related:  Could your coffee maker be a weapon of mass destruction? “Smart” appliances could become a national security risk .) While the current best encryption standards are almost impossible to crack, “nearly secure” still isn’t “secure.” They can still be broken if one has access to adequate computing power, like when Alan Turing’...

Click to see the full-size image On Thursday, the Palestinian armed group al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades announced in an official statement that is fighters fired several rockets from Gaza strip on Israeli settlements north of it. The statement was released by al-Nasser Salah al-Deen news agency “al-Buraq”. The armed group stressed that this is only the first response to  Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital  and warned that more will follow. Click to see the full-size image The Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades rocket attack is likely coordinated with the Hamas Movement. The al-Nasser Brigades are one of the main allies of Hamas in Gaza Strip. The Israeli Army confirmed that at least two rockets targeted the settlements of Hof Ashkelon and Sha’ar HaNegev north of Gaza Strip in southern Israel. Several Israel sources claimed that the Israeli anti-rocket system “Iron Dome” successfully intersected the rockets. However, the Israeli Army di...

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said during a televised speech on Thursday, that Hezbollah supports  the Palestinian Hamas Movement call for a “new Intifada” against Israel in Palestine . The Intifada was declared in protest to a decision of US president Donald Trump to recognize the city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Nasrallah called on the Arab League and the Islamic world to provide a political, media, financial and even military support for the Palestinian people so they can launch the “new Intifada” against Israel. “The most important response would be a Palestinian uprising and an Islamic summit that would declare Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Palestine … We support the call for a new Palestinian intifada [uprising] and escalating the resistance which is the biggest, most important and gravest response to the American decision,” Nasrallah said during his speech, according to the Lebanese Naharnet TV. Moreover, Nasrallah questioned the fate of...

The Indian Army’s official statement has said the UAV was on a training mission and lost contact across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Sikkim area. According to  Republic World , an Indian English-language media outlet, The defense ministry said the Indian border security personnel, as per standard protocol, immediately alerted their Chinese counterparts to locate the UAV and they later reverted with its location. “An Indian UAV which was on a regular training mission inside the Indian territory lost contact with the ground control due to some technical problem and crossed over (to) the LAC in the Sikkim Sector,” the defense ministry said in a statement. On the other hand,  China’s defense ministry said in a statement the Indian UAV had crashed in “recent days” but the ministry did not give specifics.. Zhang Shuili, a military official in China’s western battle zone command, said in the ministry statement, “This action by India vio...