ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

U.S. Marines with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, attached to Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force, Crisis Response-Central Command, engage targets during a live-fire demonstration near At-Tanf Garrison, Syria, Sept, 7, 2018. SPMAGTF-CR-CC Marines supported Special Operations Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve. The U.S. is considering a plan to keep some forces in the al-Tanaf base in southeastern Syria to counter “Iranian activities,” despite President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw all American troops from the war-torn country, the Foreign Policy magazine reported on January 25 citing officials. “Al-Tanaf is a critical element in the effort to prevent Iran from establishing a ground line of communications from Iran through Iraq through Syria to southern Lebanon in support of Lebanese Hezbollah,” a former senior U.S. military commander told the Washington-based magazine. More than 200 U.S. service members are deployed in al-Tanaf base, which is ...

Foreign Ministry statement on the developments in Venezuela ( source ): The events in Venezuela have reached a dangerous point. Failing to remove Nicolas Maduro, including physically, the extremist opponents of the legitimate government of Venezuela have opted for a highly confrontational scenario. The United States and several other countries in the region have recognised the opposition leader who has sworn himself in as Venezuela’s interim president. This can only deepen the social divide in Venezuela, aggravate street protests, dramatically destabilise the Venezuelan political community and further escalate the conflict. The deliberate and obviously well orchestrated creation of dual power and an alternative decision-making centre in Venezuela is a direct path towards chaos and erosion of Venezuelan statehood. Several people have already died. We firmly condemn those who are pushing Venezuelan society into the abyss of violent civil discord. We regard Washington’s unceremonio...

Tu-95. Source: Izvestia/Pavel Bednyakov Written by  Ilya Kramnik ; Originally appeared at  Izvestia The 2011-2020 State Armaments Program (SAP) implementation is approaching the end. In some instances, it will be completely or almost completely fulfilled, in some others there is a big gap between the implementation and the plan. Soon the Russian military will start receiving weapons under the newly reapproved 2018-2027 SAP. Izvestia attempts to assess its key provisions. Strategic Clarity The strategic component of SAP provokes the fewest questions. Modernization of strategic nuclear forces (SNF) remains a priority irrespective of situation, and the current political situation can only magnify its importance. It is evident that the SNF will continue to acquire Yars ICBMs in a mobile configuration, replacing the aging Soviet-era Topols. The deployment of silo-based Sarmat replacing the Voyevoda is expected in 2021. 2019 will see the deployment of the Avangard glid...

Written by  J.Hawk  exclusively for  SouthFront Introduction Venezuela has the dubious fortune of being located on the continent of South America, which the United States has treated under the so-called “Monroe Doctrine” as its exclusive zone of political, economic, and military influence. In practical terms it meant that whenever a Latin American government pursued a policy at odds with Washington’s preferences, it would be subjected to measures ranging from economic sanctions to outright military invasion. Latin America became one of the many battlefields of the Cold War when several countries sought to leave the US shadow and align themselves with USSR. The US retaliation was harsh, and included the support for the brutal military coup in Chile, training of “death squads” in Honduras and El Salvador, support for the so-called Contras in Nicaragua, not to mention the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Once the Cold War was over, however, a relativ...

On January 24 th , the Organization of American States convened  a meeting on the situation in Venezuela. During his opening speech US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo once more reiterated the US position regarding Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, claiming that his presidency is illegitimate. Department of State ✔ @StateDept . @ SecPompeo : All @ OAS_official member states must align themselves with democracy and respect the rule of law. All member states who have committed to uphold the Inter-American Democratic Charter must now recognize interim President @ JGuaido . 1,266 18:23 - 24 Jan 2019 941 people are talking about this Twitter Ads information and privacy Following the claims that democracy must be upheld by recognizing Interim President Juan Guaido, he also once more called Maduro an illegitimate president and called for regime change. Department of State ✔ @StateDept ...