August 2023 THE RAPID REGRESSION OF AFGHANISTAN Part I – DEJA VU From 1996 to 2001, the Taliban, a Sunni Muslim fundamentalist movement dominated by the Pashtuns, controlled most of Afghanistan. They were ousted from power by a US-led Western alliance in October 2001, following the 9/11 al-Qaeda attack on the USA, forcing the […]
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Tag Archives: NATO
Whispering Thoughts (No 13)
August 2, 2023 
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August 2023 No: 13 NATO–RUSSIAN RELATIONSHIP: COLD WAR REDUX? In 1949, when it was formed, the original NATO consisted of 12 members—it now has 31 members, which will swell to 32 if Sweden becomes a member. In the recently concluded 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, six challenges facing the organisation were identified: Ukraine’s […]
Continue readingIs the Face of Air Warfare Changing? (An Opinion Piece)
March 31, 2023 1 Comment
Canberra, 31 March 2023 THE CONCEPT OF AIR DENIAL In the last decade of the 20th century, three successful air campaigns were conducted by the Air Forces of Western countries, led by the USA—the Gulf War of 1991, the campaign in Bosnia in 1995 and then the Kosovo crisis in 1998–99. These three campaigns entrenched […]
Continue readingAfghanistan – A Long Way from Anywhere
September 20, 2016 1 Comment
Canberra, 20 September 2016 Afghanistan has been teetering at the edge of a precipice ever since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001. The situation has become further precarious, if such a thing is possible at all, after the current President Ashraf Ghani took over the reins of government two years back. The embattled […]
Continue readingThe Pilgrims Progress: Russia in the Middle-East
February 9, 2016 0 Comments
Canberra, 8 February 2016 For nearly four years of the Civil War, Russia was content with providing traditional support through the provision of arms and logistics to its client-state Syria, while the Assad regime battled for its very existence. Therefore, the direct military intervention in September 2015 can be considered a revolutionary act by […]
Continue readingThe Middle-East: An Open Pandora’s Box
December 12, 2015 1 Comment
Singapore, 12 December 2015 Even before the discovery of the vast oil reserves in the region, the Middle-East had been the stomping ground of the global powers of the time. The past century has seen the region embroiled in convoluted conflicts that have simmered and altered shape, but have never really been brought to […]
Continue readingDECIPHERING THE FIGHT AGAINST THE ISLAMIC STATE Part I: The Major Participants
November 18, 2014 1 Comment
Canberra 18 November 2014 [This is the first part of a two-part series analysing the on-going conflict in the Middle East] Introduction The world is continuing to look at the Islamic State (IS) as yet another, and admittedly more potent, terrorist or ‘jihadi’ network. This is a rather simplistic view since the current conflict in […]
Continue readingTURKEY ON THE BRINK PART I: THE DEBACLE OF FOREIGN POLICY
October 8, 2014 0 Comments
Singapore, 8 October 2014 [This is Part I of a two-part series analysing the precarious situation that Turkey has created for itself in the most recent conflict raging in the Middle-East against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.] For years Turkey has tried to become part of the European Union and for years […]
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Sanu Kainikara 
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