November 2005

Yemen is frontline for GCC in war on terror Minister of Interior Rashad Al-Alimi said in a statement yesterday that Yemen stands in the frontline for Gulf Cooperation Council countries in the war on terror.Al-Alimi, who will be participating in the upcoming Gulf security meeting in Bahrain, added “Yemen’s role in fighting terrorism or pirating, or even in combating smuggling of drugs is essential more than any other time in the past.”
Struggle for influence in Central Asia Ensuring stability is important to Russia, too, according to Oksana Antonenko, a senior fellow at the International Institute of Strategic Studies. "Russia wants to deal with these threats on the ground in Central Asia, rather than wait for them to move onto Russian territory," she said.
Up in the air Even American bombing on behalf of an improved, well-trained Iraqi Army would not necessarily be any more successful against the insurgency. “It’s not going to work,” said Andrew Brookes, the former director of airpower studies at the Royal Air Force’s advanced staff college, who is now at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, in London. “Can you put a lid on the insurgency with bombing?” Brookes said. “No. You can concentrate in one area,...
So what have they got to hide? ‘The decision was political, not military,' said Toby Dodge of Queen Mary College, London University, who went to Downing Street with other Iraq experts before the war to warn Mr Blair of the perils of an invasion. 'It was taken in the Oval Office.'
Political will needed for disarmament Sir Michael Quinlan, Consulting Senior Fellow for South Asia at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) , on Saturday said the abolition of armouries, particularly nuclear weapons, could be expected only through wider political developments.
Enrichment new redline in Nuclear showdown "The United States and Europe have clearly moved away from uranium conversion to set enrichment as the new red line but it's not clear if Russia, the key diplomatic player at this point, buys this," Mark Fitzpatrick, a non-proliferation expert at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think tank, said.
EU diplomacy fails to dent Iran "You look at the cards you can play," said Dana Allin, a senior fellow at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies. "China and Russia can't be taken for granted in this." He said Washington had gone along with EU diplomacy in the past two years, even though some U.S. hawks had wanted a tougher line, or even military action. But with EU efforts running into the sand, the Western powers had not lined up a consensus at the IAEA for referral, or at the Security...
Iran's Nuclear Capability "If you have one instance of a failure to report, that's an error. If you have two, maybe you'd give them some benefit of the doubt but when you have 18 instances of a failure to report, it's a very clear pattern and it's obvious that their intention was to proceed without reporting this to the [U.N.] Security Council," said Mark Fitzpatrick, senior fellow for non-proliferation studies at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Prospects Not So Rosy “We have, indeed, seen serious improvement in the issues of corruption, economic transparency, pensions and salaries,” agreed Oksana Antonenko of London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies. “But Georgia has not become more democratic. What we’ve seen is the emergence of a very strong, centralized one-party structure, in which the president decides everything and there’s no real opposition.”
Gulf Region: Security Organisations Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: My Lords, the Government support a number of initiatives in the region, such as the International Institute of Strategic Studies' regional Gulf dialogue. A Cabinet-level delegation will attend the next conference in Bahrain on 2 to 4 December. Officials in London and at posts have assisted this initiative by encouraging engagement from the region. If they are to be successful, leadership of regional security initiatives must come from the region.
Iran’s Nuclear Balancing Act Iran has not embarked on a crash nuclear weapons program. Even if Iran removed all political constraints and went for a bomb as quickly as possible, the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates that it would take several years — perhaps a minimum of 5 years — before Iran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a single bomb.
Biased Indo-US nuclear accord detrimental De-linking Pakistan from the proposed grant of exceptions to India for transfer of nuclear technology by the US and the Nuclear Suppliers Group would be "detrimental to strategic stability in the region", Pakistan's Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Ehsanul Haq said. He said that the nuclear non-proliferation regime should address the 'legality versus reality' issue of nuclear weapons in Pakistan and India in a non-discriminatory manner. Gen. Haq said this while...
Iran: Lawmakers Prepare Bill To Stop IAEA Mark Fitzpatrick, a senior fellow for nonproliferation with the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies told RFE/RL last week that despite "Iran's non- compromising mood," it is highly unlikely that the IAEA will report Iran to the UN Security Council."It looks to me as though the board will not decide anything new," Fitzpatrick said. "The action they took in September to find Iran in noncompliance will remain. But I don't think the board will be...
Arms market has been left out of EU rules Mr. ALEXANDER NICOLL (International Institute for Strategic Studies): European countries feel that they spend quite a lot on defense, but they're not getting full value for money--from that money. And if they can spend it more efficiently, then collectively they can have greater capability.
nuclear proliferation a serious issue General Ehsan-Ul-Haq, Chairman Joint chief of Staff Committee has termed nuclear proliferation as a serious issue. Addressing as chief Guest at a joint Seminar on New Security Perspective by Institute of Regional Studies, IRS, and International Institute of Strategic Studies, IISS, London, he said in the environment of global terrorism, nuclear proliferation's become a serious issue.
Key defence forum to turn spotlight on terror THE fight against terrorism in the region will top the agenda of the International Institute for Strategic Studies' (IISS) second Gulf Dialogue next month. The three-day strategic defence conference will open at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel and Spa on December 2. Regional and International government officials at the ministerial level, including defence, interior and national security advisers, as well as scholars and academicians, will be taking part in the event. In addition to the GCC...
Quitting: as Bad as Invading By Toby Dodge, Senior Consulting Fellow for the Middle East
Survey Finds Deep Discontent In an analysis, Pew said the Iraq war "has had a profound impact" on the way opinion leaders and the public, "view America's global role, looming international threats, and the Bush administration's stewardship of the nation's foreign policy." Asked how Pew chose the opinion leaders, Andrew Kohut, president of the center, said, "We used the best listings that we could of people in this influential group." He said the opinion leaders came from rosters of...
Tehran Reportedly To Start New Round Mark Fitzpatrick, a senior fellow for nonproliferation with the London-based International Institute For Strategic Studies, say it is still not clear whether Iran has resumed uranium conversion.“I don’t know that Iran has actually started the next round," he said. "They have announced that they will but my understanding is that they will not actually start it until after the board of governors meet on November 24. I think they are trying to show both that they cannot be...
Chinese build a high-tech army within an army The US response to China has shifted as well in the past half year. This spring, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in Singapore that China's military rise was illegitimate because China faced no threats. This point was seen as tactically clumsy even in Pentagon circles. "We [the US] spend $400 billion on defense. We don't have the right to decide other nations' threats," commented a career defense official in Washington.