Reborn in the cloud

Mark Garrett biography

Adobe executives discuss the company’s move from selling shrink-wrapped products to offering web-based software and services.July 2015

Over the past five years, Adobe Systems has remade itself as a cloud company. It no longer offers its publishing and design tools in the form of physical, shrink-wrapped products to be deployed at customers’ sites under a perpetual license—where customers pay once and can use the software indefinitely. Rather, customers subscribe to Creative Cloud, the company’s online suite of publishing and design tools, and receive frequent software upgrades as well as a range of new online-only and mobile services.

In large part because of Adobe’s transition to the cloud, the company has seen its fortunes turn. Its stock price has more than tripled, overall revenue growth has climbed from the single digits five years ago to the double digits today, and recurring revenue has climbed from 19 percent in 2011 to 70 percent of total revenue today. The number of subscribing customers is more than four million and rising.

Getting Tough on North Korean Human Rights

Park Ihn-hwi

July 13, 2015

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/getting-tough-north-korean-human-rights-13320

Despite North Korean threats, the United Nations created on June 23 an office in Seoul to combat Pyongyang’s egregious human rights violations. Although basic human rights are the quintessential element in the quality of life, the international community has paid insufficient attention to the horrendous deficiencies of human rights in North Korea.

While well-meaning public campaigns were directed at human rights violations elsewhere in the world, the North Korean regime’s attacks on its own citizens were largely ignored. This was due in part to the paucity of information from within the Hermit Kingdom.

But another factor was that, for some in South Korea, there was concern that raising the sensitive issue of human rights in North Korea would negatively impact the inter-Korean relationship. This explains why—despite 10 years of legislative debate—the South Korean parliament has failed to pass a North Korean human rights act.

65 War Other Side of the HILL

Launched in broad daylight as it was over open ground in full view of one tank squadron plus and one infantry battalion and covered by their combined weapons. Tanks and artillery opened fire when the Pakistanis emerged from cover from their forming up place.It was a foolhardy venture,the attackers were literally massacred but they persisted in their attempt to close until the few remnants fell only about 50 metres from tanks of 4 Hodsons Horse.

WHEN THE YELLOW RIBBONS FADE: RECONNECTING OUR SOLDIERS AND CITIZENS

David Barno and Nora Bensahel

July 14, 2015

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A retired Navy officer recently told us a story that happened 20 years ago in New Jersey, when he was introduced to several very successful businessmen at an elite golf course outside his base. When a friend introduced him by his rank as “Commander,” one of these well-to-do members looked deeply confused and said, “Commander? What the heck is that?”

Today, after 14 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, a Navy commander is more likely to be recognized by his or her rank when introduced in public. But as those two wars evolve into smaller conflicts, the military is coming home once more, drawing back into its often isolated and tightly guarded bases. The yawning civil–military divide that was so evident to our Navy friend in the 1990s has every chance of returning and widening — with even more damaging effects on the U.S. military and the nation as a whole.

America's Shrinking Military: The End of U.S. Primacy?

Peter Harris

July 14, 2015

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America's political class has effectively acquiesced in a winnowing away of the country’s military supremacy, come rain or shine.

The announcement that the U.S. Army is to lose 40,000 troops and 17,000 civilian employees by 2017 has taken some by surprise. Although it has long been known that the Obama administration was to pursue reductions in the size of the military in line with sequestration, the timing by which those economies are to take place is causing some controversy—especially in light of ongoing events in the Middle East and Europe.

But these cutbacks have little to do with Obama’s assessment of the short-term security environment. Instead, they are yet more evidence of a macro-level acceptance by America’s political elite that the country’s global supremacy should be allowed to dwindle—particularly in military terms. By countenancing the strictures of sequestration instead of trying to find a bipartisan escape from mandated cuts, the U.S. political class has effectively acquiesced in a winnowing away of the country’s military supremacy, come rain or shine.

Don’t Let U.S. Special Operations Forces Become the Latest Victim of a Washington Fad

Stephen Okin

Resist the Hype: Prevent SOF From Being the Next Victim of Too Much Attention 

Politicians, like the general public, are not immune to fads. Whether it be wearing American flag lapel pins and bashing the French, or enthusiastically embracing guided munitions and signals intelligence, U.S. policymakers have repeatedly shown themselves vulnerable to the latest trends in foreign policy and military operations. Such trends usually develop in response to recent shocks or successes. For example, the proliferation of flag pins was a gut reaction to the desire to show patriotism and unity following the attacks of September 11th. Yet, while always well intentioned, these fixations oversimplify the issues they seek to address. The very flag pins that were meant to be symbols of unity quickly turned into targets for mockery and protest, as many Americans rejected the narrow and partisan version of patriotism their wearers demanded. The trends, therefore, correctly recognize that an important shift has taken place but too often fail to accurately understand its true meaning, to great detriment. Today, the latest iteration of this process is occurring with special operations. For a variety of reasons, policymakers are increasingly enamored with special operations forces (SOF) and risk damaging not only the future credibility of the forces but also the national security of the United States as well.

Resist the Hype: Prevent SOF From Being the Next Victim of Too Much Attention

by Stephen Okin

July 9, 2015

Politicians, like the general public, are not immune to fads. Whether it be wearing American flag lapel pins and bashing the French, or enthusiastically embracing guided munitions and signals intelligence, U.S. policymakers have repeatedly shown themselves vulnerable to the latest trends in foreign policy and military operations. Such trends usually develop in response to recent shocks or successes. For example, the proliferation of flag pins was a gut reaction to the desire to show patriotism and unity following the attacks of September 11th. Yet, while always well intentioned, these fixations oversimplify the issues they seek to address. The very flag pins that were meant to be symbols of unity quickly turned into targets for mockery and protest, as many Americans rejected the narrow and partisan version of patriotism their wearers demanded. The trends, therefore, correctly recognize that an important shift has taken place but too often fail to accurately understand its true meaning, to great detriment. Today, the latest iteration of this process is occurring with special operations. For a variety of reasons, policymakers are increasingly enamored with special operations forces (SOF) and risk damaging not only the future credibility of the forces but also the national security of the United States as well.

Japan Could Work with NATO on Deadly Next-Generation Missile

By Ankit Panda

July 13, 2015

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Japan’s participation in a NATO missile development consortium could lead to multi-national projects in Asia.

Ever since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s return to the top in Tokyo in December 2012, Japan has steadily been increasing its defense cooperation with a range of partners, both in Asia and elsewhere. Abe has spearheaded defense commerce, research and development, and production cooperation with a range of states, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Australia, and India. To enable this profusion of collaborative activity, Abe’s government lifted Japan’s decades-long self-imposed arms export ban (based on the “three principles” of not exporting weapons to communist states, states involved in conflict, or states subject to United Nations embargoes). The next step for Tokyo as it looks to become a “normal” state, as far as international defense commerce is concerned, may be participation in a NATO missile building consortium. According to Reuters, Tokyo is considering collaborating with NATO in what could be its first multinational defense project.

Vietnam, Belarus Ink New Military Pact

By Prashanth Parameswaran

July 14, 2015

http://thediplomat.com/2015/07/vietnam-belarus-ink-new-military-pact/

Last week, Vietnam and Belarus signed a new military technology accord in another boost to their defense relationship.

According to the Vietnamese army newspaper, the conclusion of the military technical cooperation agreement came on July 9 during the meeting of the existing Vietnam-Belarus inter-governmental joint committee on military technology cooperation.

While the exact contents of the pact are not publicly known, sources indicate that the focus is on telecommunications for the Vietnam People’s Army (PAVN). According to IHS Jane’s, it will also emphasizetraining PAVN technicians and engineers attached to the PAVN-run military industrial complex at state-owned Belarus defense industrial facilities.

Aside from the pact, the two sides also discussed how to improve their defense relationship more generally in talks led by Vietnamese Deputy Defense Minister Senior Lieutenant General Truong Quang Khanh and Belarusian Deputy Chairman of the State Military Industrial Committee Morozo Oleg Vladimirovich. Khanh, for instance, stressed that in addition to the sharing of technological and scientific applications, both sides should also focus on strengthening other areas such as personnel training and delegation exchanges.

Built on hype, deflated by reality

BRAHMA CHELLANEY

July 14, 2015

The Indo-U.S nuclear deal and its much-advertised energy, technological and strategic benefits for India still seem elusive. Given the heavy political investment in it, the returns seem to be little and one-sided.

Unveiled with great fanfare on July 18, 2005, the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal was touted as a major transformative initiative. But on its 10th anniversary this week, its much-advertised energy, technological and strategic benefits for India still seem elusive. Indeed, the deal has yet to be commercialised. The premise on which it was founded — that India could build energy “security” by importing high-priced, foreign fuel-dependent reactors — was, in any case, a pipe dream.

The deal, given the heavy political investment in it, will eventually be operationalised, however belatedly. It will take a minimum of 10 years thereafter for the first nuclear power reactor under the deal to come online. After all, the international plant construction time frame, with licensing approval, now averages at least a decade, with the vast majority of reactors currently under construction in the world plagued by serious delays and cost overruns.

India’s Vijay at Kargil: Lessons that Remain Unlearnt from the Past

By Brig Amar Cheema

13 Jul , 2015

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“The Kargil Operation was an audacious attempt to seize an opportunity of historic proportions.”[1]

The 1999 military confrontation on the heights of Kargil was a perilous episode in the ongoing Indo-Pakistan conflict as unlike the past, this could have easily spiralled beyond Kashmir. The conflict has been characterized based on its scope, intensity and context. Mr. Peter Lavoy comments: “This crisis, in comparison to previous conflicts in the region, drew an unprecedented level of controversy, competing narratives and implications for domestic politics not specifically for Pakistan, but also for India and for the course of international relations in South Asia.”[2] The Kargil War, which has been described as a ‘limited’ war,[3] since the ‘ends’ and ‘means’ were limited, has also been classified as an escalation of the ongoing Indo-Pak ‘proxy war.’ In a way, it was all that, but more as it was fought with the added risk of a nuclear exchange. Nevertheless, it was also a war that should never have taken place, and the fact that it did, especially in the way it could have manifested, was a grim reminder that India was reacting, yet again, and this remains the nub of the questions that are being brought up in this article.

Kargil Controversy: An IAF Response

By Air Marshal RS Bedi

Issue: Vol 25.1 Jan-Mar 2010 | Date : 13 Jul , 2015

http://www.indiandefencereview.com/spotlights/kargil-controversy-an-iaf-response/

Lt Gen Harwant’s article “Kargil Controversy : Sorry State of Higher Defence Management”, published in October-December 2009 issue of the Indian Defence Review is laudable for its comprehensive and all encompassing critique. Though written with an advantage of hindsight after a long span of ten years, he somehow ends up making the issue still more controversial, especially with regard to the role of the Indian Air Force. One does not have to berate the other merely to prove a point, that the Chief of the Defence Staff is an urgent need of the hour if Higher Defence Management is to improve. I have no reason to believe that the article is a deliberate misrepresentation of facts. I am in fact inclined to attribute it to inadequate understanding of fundamental precepts of air power. I would therefore dwell on some of these issues raised by the General and hopefully set the records straight in the interest of inter service bonhomie.

India Preparing to Conduct Missile Test Launch From Homemade Ballistic Missile Sub

July 12, 2015

India’s Nuclear Triad in Sights as INS Arihant Preps for First Missile Test

The indigenously made nuclear submarine - INS Arihant - will fire its first missile, also made in India, this year to formally complete the nuclear triad for India, according to top defence research officials. Arihant will also go for its first deep sea dive soon, giving India the ability to launch a nuclear missile from air, land and sea.

In an exclusive interview to NDTV, the newly appointed Director General of Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO,) Dr S Christopher said that India is in the process of building two more Arihant-class-submarines.

The firing of the indigenously made missile is capable of delivering a nuclear pay load, an important milestone for India’s defence production. It signifies the completion nuclear triad. The missile code named B-05 will be India’s first Submarine launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM).

Vietnam After 2016: Who Will Lead?

By Chánh Công Phan

July 10, 2015

http://thediplomat.com/2015/07/vietnam-after-2016-who-will-lead/

Who is most likely to emerge from the next party congress as general secretary?

Every five years, the Vietnamese Communist Party holds its National Congress. Among other important policy issues, the party congress chooses the central leadership teams, to govern both the party and the country. If the 11th party congress (2011) is any guide, the new Central Committee, which will be elected by all delegates at the coming 12th party congress (to be held in 2016), will select a new general secretary (Tổng Bí Thư), a new Politburo (Bộ Chính Trị), a new Secretariat (Ban Bí Thư), and a new Central Commission of Inspection (Uỷ Ban Kiểm Tra Trung Ương).

Of particular interest is this: Who will emerge from the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam as the new general secretary?

Political Context

Poisoning the Well of U.S.-China Relations

By Elizabeth C. Economy

July 12, 2015

http://thediplomat.com/2015/07/poisoning-the-well-of-u-s-china-relations/

Blaming “hostile foreign forces” for economic and social ills trades short-term gain for long-term pain.

It was bound to happen. As China’s stock market continued its wild ride, dropping 30 percent by early July from a seven-year high only a month prior, rumors started swirling that Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and George Soros, among other vague forces of international capital, were to blame for the stock market plunge. No matter that foreign investors have only limited access to mainland Chinese stock exchanges, the current Chinese leadership has become addicted to the foreigner blame game. The phrase “hostile foreign forces” has become a catch-all for Chinese officials, scholars, and media commentators who cannot acknowledge the reality of China’s current political and economic situation.

China Wants to Develop a New Long-Range Strategic Bomber

By Franz-Stefan Gady

July 13, 2015

http://thediplomat.com/2015/07/china-wants-to-develop-a-new-long-range-strategic-bomber/

China needs to develop a new long-range strike bomber capable of attacking targets farther out in the Pacific. This is the principal conclusion of a meeting of Chinese military officials, according to AFP citing a full-page China Daily article published last Tuesday as its source.

In the meeting the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) was also referred to as a “strategic force” a title usually reserved for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Second Artillery Corps – Beijing’s “de facto strategic missile force,” according to China Daily.

The new bomber should be capable of striking targets as far as the “second island chain” – an area stretching from the Kurils in the North through Japan, the Bonins, the Marianas, the Carolines and Indonesia in the South – the paper further states.

The PLA’s definition of a long-range strategic bomber is a minimum range of 8,000 km (5,000 miles) without refueling and the capacity to carry a payload of more than 10 tons of air-to-ground ammunition.

Russia vs. China: The Race to Dominate the Defense Market

Robert Farley

July 13, 2015

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In the long run, who will have the upper hand?

China’s defense industry has long stood in the shadow of its Russian counterpart. Early in the Cold War, Soviet industry provided the foundations for the Chinese military-industrial complex through the licensing of technology, the transfer of assembly kits and the provision of advisors. Later, after the Sino-Soviet split, the Chinese struggled to keep pace, assembling usually inferior knock-offs of state-of-the-art Soviet equipment. After the end of the Cold War, Russian technology exports helped jump-start China’s defense industry, which had remained moribund for much of the Deng Xiaoping era.

Chinese industry can still learn much from Russia, but in many areas it has caught up with its model. The vibrancy of China’s tech sector suggests that Chinese military technology will leap ahead of Russian tech in the next decade. Historically, China’s military exports have occupied a different, lesser tier than Russian. Within the next decade, however, we should expect that Russia and China will fight hard for market share in the following five areas:

Fighter Aircraft

The Future of U.S. Intelligence: Adapting to Deal with China

Peter Mattis

July 13, 2015

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The United States needs to reevaluate the way it approaches intelligence if it is to be effective in the 21st century. 

In an April interview with Charlie Rose, former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell told Charlie Rose that the U.S. intelligence effort should focus on problems that only the Intelligence Community (IC) can do—and China was not one of them. Morell said “Anybody can give you an opinion of who's up and who's down in the Chinese Communist Party.” The collapse of a China policy consensus, to paraphrase a recent commentator, however, demonstrates how wrong he is that anyone can evaluate China, its politics, and its future. It is quite possible the IC is the only place where China’s veil of secrecy can be pierced and the perceptive analyst is free from retribution. But if accurately understanding Beijing and its intentions could have prevented U.S. thinking on China from arriving at this tragic juncture, then intelligence policymakers need to reconsider the continuing importance of states and what it means to be an IC expert on China.

Assessing China remains one of the critical challenges for the U.S. Intelligence Community, even as many would-be intelligence reformers condemn states to the dustbin of history and irrelevance for the future of U.S. intelligence. As critical as I am of most writing on intelligence reform, the status quo for IC analysts and their careers, at least on China, cannot continue.

South Korea’s 'Good Neighbor' Initiative

Emily S. Chen

July 13, 2015

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To heal the wounds of the historical past between South Korea and Japan, President Park’s “two-track diplomacy” needs additional support.

Japan–South Korea relations are seeing a glimpse of hope for change. While the two countries have allowed mutual affront to obscure shared interests, values and geography in the past few years, a recent talk by South Korean president Park Geun-hye signaled that a change is underway. On May 4, 2015, President Park expounded that South Korea will pursue a “two-track diplomacy” toward Japan, separating current governmental relations from historical disputes deriving from Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. Within two months after President Park’s talk, foreign ministers from Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo and agreed to resume dialogue to cooperate on certain issues and areas. In terms of advancing relations between Japan and South Korea, the Park administration’s diplomatic strategy so far is off to a good start.

The Limits of Chinese Soft Power

JOSEPH S. NYE

JULY 13, 2015

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CAMBRIDGE – China has been making major efforts to increase its ability to influence other countries without force or coercion. In 2007, then-President Hu Jintao told the Communist Party that the country needed to increase its soft power; President Xi Jinping repeated the same message last year. They know that, for a country like China, whose growing economic and military power risks scaring its neighbors into forming counter-balancing coalitions, a smart strategy must include efforts to appear less frightening. But their soft-power ambitions still face major obstacles.

To be sure, China’s efforts have had some impact. As China enrolls countries as members of its Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and doles out billions of dollars of aid during state visits abroad, some observers worry that, when it comes to soft power, China could actually be taking the lead over countries like the United States. The American sinologist David Shambaugh, for example, estimatesthat the country spends roughly $10 billion a year in “external propaganda.” By comparison, the US spent only $666 million on public diplomacy last year.

China and Russia Lay Foundation for Massive Economic Cooperation

BY REID STANDISH

JULY 10, 2015

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China and Russia Lay Foundation for Massive Economic Cooperation

In the past decade, Beijing and Moscow have been more competitors than partners. But that relationship may now be changing as Russian and Chinese leaders are considering combining their two countries’ regional economic projects — the Eurasian Economic Union and the Silk Road Economic Belt, respectively.

While meeting at a two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Ufa, Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are reportedly discussing a framework that would merge China’s multi-billion dollar network of roads, railways, and pipelines through Central Asia with the Eurasian Union, the post-Soviet economic bloc that includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. The two projects would be combined under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and if the proposal is completed, it would make the opaque organization the preeminent economic body from Shanghai to St. Petersburg.

COUNTERING ISLAMIC STATE RECRUITMENT: YOU’RE DOING IT TOTALLY WRONG

Christina Nemr

July 14, 2015 

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In the past year, sensationalized media coverage of the Islamic State has reinvigorated discussions about how best to counter violent extremism (CVE). Though governments and organizations have been discussing and lightly implementing CVE efforts for years, it remains a concept whose parameters are notoriously ill-defined.

CVE’s largest challenge resides in its definition ― there is no consensus (international or domestic) on what CVE is and what efforts it encompasses. Ongoing efforts to counter violent extremism are beset by little or no research underlying their premises, misconceptions about drivers of radicalization persist, and ultimately there seems no easy way to measure the effectiveness of any given CVE program.

Despite its limitations, conducting CVE programs has merit ― assuming those undertaking it know what is feasible and what is not. For example, though CVE is touted as a longer-term tool for countering terrorism, one that focuses on the drivers of radicalization, it is too often wielded as a quick fix designed to counter the latest terrorist recruitment technique. This quick fix attitude uses CVE as a short-term solution to the detriment of understanding how recruitment and radicalization to violence actually happens. Nowhere is this issue more pronounced than when it comes to countering the terrorist narrative ― a much-heralded and oft-used CVE approach that is nearly boundless in scope.

Islamic State Releases New Footage Showing Scenes From Massacre of 1,700 Iraqi Troops

By VICE News

July 12, 2015 

The so-called Islamic State (IS) has released new video footage of the massacre it carried out at a military base near Tikrit in northern Iraq, where militants slaughtered an estimated 1,700 pro-government soldiers in June 2014.

The 22-minute film, made from a mix of old and new footage, shows militants tossing military recruits from Camp Speicher off the back of a truck on top of each other.

"These are not civilians, they are all military and special servicemen," an unidentified IS fighter says to the camera. "All are apostates who have come from cities of apostates to kill Sunnis here, we have more than 2,000 of them."

The recruits — most from the Shiite Muslim community — are then made to march bent over and with their hands tied behind their backs through the streets in single file to an execution site. There, they are lined up face down on the ground before militants open fire. Some cover their heads and tremble as their companions are shot.

Out Jihad the Jihadi

Iraq needs a political solution — but what does that mean?

Diane Maye is a former Air Force officer, defense industry professional, and academic. She is a PhD candidate in Political Science at George Mason University where she studies Iraqi politics. She is a proud associate member of the Military Writers Guild. The views expressed in this article are those of the author.

In a lecture to field grade officers at the U.S. Army War College in 1981, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Maxwell Taylor described strategy as the sum of ends, ways and means; where ends are the objectives one strives for, ways are the course of action, and means are the instruments by which they are achieved.

Strategy = Ends + Ways + Means

Martin van Creveld says: To understand ISIS, see its history

 

Summary: To gain a perspective to understand the Islamic State, Martin van Creveld looks at the history of the Middle East for its origins. Although written last year it remains as apt today as then (despite the monthly clickbait announcements of turning points in this war).

Van Gogh sees the history of the Middle East

Van Gogh’s Wheatfield (1890).

By Martin van Creveld

From his website, 24 September 2014

Here with his generous permission

What went wrong? A brief history of the Arab world.

Missing in Action: Where Are the Arabs in the Fight against ISIS?

James Jay Carafano

July 13, 2015

Source Link

Arab armies "lack the capacity for logistics, campaign planning, and all the supporting arms and assets needed to undertake an offensive campaign."

Some argue that ISIS in Iraq is an Arab problem. Ergo, it should be Arab boots on the ground that kick the land-grabbing insurgency from the field.

That argument has an undeniable appeal here in the United States. America is exhausted with wars. Leading from behind seems an attractive option. There is also the matter of the end game. A security framework requiring endless U.S. intervention in the Middle East doesn’t seem like a very sound strategy. A near constant drain on resources and attention might exacerbate America’s overstretch. Moreover, an overly intrusive U.S. presence might start as many fires as it puts out.

And then there are the cautions of history. “Do not try to do too much with your own hands. Better the Arabs do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly,” wrote T.E. Lawrence “of Arabia” nearly 100 years ago in his famous “Twenty Seven Articles.” “It is their war, and you are to help them, not to win it for them. Actually, also, under the very odd conditions of Arabia, your practical work will not be as good as, perhaps, you think it is.”

Tunisia Needs to Do More to Fight Terrorism

Ben Fishman

July 13, 2015

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/tunisia-needs-do-more-fight-terrorism-13315?page=show

"Tunisia may not be at the epicenter of the global fight against ISIS, but it can no longer sit on the sidelines."

The June 26 resort massacre in Tunisia that resulted in thirty-eight deaths revealed that the only Arab democracy is woefully underprepared to take on the brutality of the Islamic State. Like the March attack at Tunis’ Bardo museum, the beach and hotel had very limited security and the response times of police were insufficient to prevent dozens of casualties. Many of these shortcomings can be addressed with material aid and expertise from Europe and the United States as well as the willingness of a cooperative Tunisian government to begin prioritizing wholesale security sector reforms. 

While Tunisia may be a small fish in the larger fight against the Islamic State, its fate remains important since it has been the only country to emerge from the 2011 Arab uprisings with a democratically elected government and a hard-fought constitution. Unlike its neighbors, Tunisia so far is passing the test of whether secular and Islamist political parties can coexist peacefully.

The New Containment: Changing America's Approach to Middle East Security

BY BILAL Y. SAAB

JULY 6, 2015

Securing the Middle East after an Iran nuclear deal is the next big challenge for both the region and the international community. The United States and its allies have engaged in tireless diplomacy with Iran over the past few years to produce an agreement that would limit Tehran's nuclear program for the next decade and a half. However, the hard work does not stop here; in fact, it may have just begun. To protect the deal (assuming one is finalized) and take full advantage of its potential benefits, which include the drastic reduction of the risk of nuclear weapons proliferating in the region, the United States needs a comprehensive strategy for regional security in the Middle East. A potential nuclear deal with Iran—as strategically significant as it is—is only one piece of the Middle East security puzzle.

MEMORIALIZING THE TUNISIA ATTACK VICTIMS AND CAMERON’S PHONY WAR AGAINST THE ISLAMIC STATE

Anthony King

July 13, 2015 

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On June 26, 2015, Seifeddine Rezgui shot and killed 38 tourists, 30 of them British, in a resort in Tunisia before he was himself killed by local police. The attack was the second-worst terrorist attack against British citizens, behind the July 7, 2005 attacks in London, which had killed 52 civilians. Targeting European holiday-makers, the attack recalled the infamous al Qaeda attack in Bali in 2002, which killed 200 Australian tourists. The strategic and political implications of the attack are likely to be significant, therefore.

However, one of the most interesting aspects of the attack was not the political, and still less the military, response of the United Kingdom to this atrocity, but rather Britain’s cultural and specifically lapidary response. How did Britain choose to honor and memorialize the victims?

U.S. Must Come To Its Senses About Russia

Polina Tikhonova

July 12, 2015

http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/07/u-s-must-come-to-its-senses-about-russia/

Pres. Vladimir Putin at the opening of the International Military-Technical Forum ARMY-2015.

During his appointment hearing to become the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Dunford told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that if they “want to talk about a nation that could pose an existential threat to the United States, I’d have to point to Russia. And if you look at their behavior, it’s nothing short of alarming.”

As it became later known, the General’s opinion is not in line with John Kerry’s opinion. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said that the Secretary of State “doesn’t agree with the assessment that Russia is an existential threat to the United States, nor China, quite frankly.”

However, Toner acknowledged the fact that Dunford is “expected to provide his views, his assessment on which nations or entities pose a threat to the United States. And that’s his job.”

Putin’s erratic policy vs. Obama’s weak policy