ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Illustrative image The US State Department has confirmed the delivery of anti-tank missile systems Javelin to Ukraine. “They have already been delivered,” a US State Department official said on April 30 in response to  an RFE/RL query  on the handover of Javelins. In March, the US confirmed the deal to sell 210 Javelin anti-tank missiles and 37 Javelin launchers to Ukraine.  According to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency , the deal also includes “United States Government and contractor technical assistance, transportation, training and other related elements of logistics and program support” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko also confirmed the delivery and said his country would continue “to strengthen” its “defense potential.” “I am sincerely grateful for the fair decision of [U.S. President] Donald Trump in support of Ukraine, in defense of freedom and democracy,” Poroshenko said. “Washington not only fulfilled our joint agreement, it demonstrated leade

Illustrative image: Netflix The US State Department freezed financing the White Helmets, which had been working in war-torn Syria,  the US  TV channel  CBS reported on May 3. According to CBS, the US government accounted for about a third of the overall funding of White Helmets. CBS stressed that “the US State Department said the support is ‘under active review,’” adding that the organization had not been receiving financial funds from Washington for several weeks already. The leader of White Helmets Raed Saleh stated that there had been no signs of stopping the financing two months ago during the visit of the organization’s members to the US, CBS reported. “Our meetings in March were very positive. There were even remarks from senior officials about long-term commitments even into 2020,” Saleh said. “There were no suggestions whatsoever about stopping support.” “Ultimately, this will negatively impact the humanitarian workers ability to save lives,” claimed the White

Click to see the full-size map On May 5, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), the Palestinian Liberation Army (PLA) and their allies captured the southern part of the strategic al-Hajar al-Aswad district, south of the city of Damascus, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).  The SANA said that the SAA is now clearing the liberated area from mines and IEDs. The SAA and its allies split the ISIS-held pocket south of Damascus on May 3  capturing several key positions between the al-Hajar al-Aswad district and the Yarmouk refugee camp. From its side, the ISIS linked news agency Amaq claimed that ISIS fighters killed 90 SAA soldiers and damaged a BMP-1 armored vehicle of the SAA during the clashes in al-Hajar al-Aswad district and the Yarmouk refugee camp in southern Damascus on May 4 and 5. However, most of these claims were not verified. Currently, ISIS fighters control more than 80% of the Yarmouk camp, less than 20% of the Hajar al-Aswad district and a few positions in th

Armenian opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan attends a rally in Yerevan on 2 May AFP On May 3, National Assembly (NA) Vice Chairman, RPA spokesperson Eduard Sharmazanov told that the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) would support the election of Prime Minister,  the state-run Armenia News reported. “As for the [RPA NA] faction’s view that we will support the PM candidate who has the [respective] signature of the one-third [of the MPs] and it shouldn’t be allowed that Armenia has a political crisis and we will have a PM on May 8, everything is said in that address,” Sharmazanov stressed. On April 23, Prime Minister Sargsyan resigned amid anti-government protests. The opposition demanded to carry out parliamentary election to hand over the power. On May 1, the NA did not elect Prime Minister. The only candidate Nikol Pashinyan (opposition movement leader) gained 45 for and 56 against votes. The parliamentary majority faction of the ruling RPA voted against Pashinyan.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un The historical April 27 inter-Korean summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un resulted in a joint declaration. According to the document, North and South Koreas are to cooperate to bring peace and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Two countries have already started to take measures in the framework of the signed declaration. Citing the statement of South Korea’s presidential office, North Korean authorities expressed its willing to close the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in May,  the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported on April 29 . According to the report, the site’s dismantling process would be public. As countries agreed to “completely cease all hostile acts” along the Demilitarised Zone from May 1, South Korea began the removal of loudspeakers. “We see this as the easiest first step to build military trust,” South Korean Ministry of National Defense spokeswoman Choi Hyun-s

(Korea Summit Press Pool via AP) Written by  Brandon Smith ; Originally appeared on  alt-market.com There is a saying in geopolitics that peace summits are generally a perfect time to prepare for war. This thinking stems from the military philosophy of Sun Tzu, who believed that when a nation is weak it is important to appear strong, and when a nation is at its most dangerous it is important to appear weak or “diplomatic.” Sun Tzu also often praised the virtues of distraction and sleight of hand, not only in war, but in politics as well. I would note that Sun Tzu and the Eastern “sleight of hand” methodology is not only a mainstay of Chinese as well as North Korean thought, but also required reading for Western covert intelligence agencies. It is important to fully understand this methodology when examining the East vs. West paradigm, because almost everything you see and hear when it comes to relations with countries like China and North Korea is theater. Their governments ha