Defense Technology Monitor No. 37
The Pentagon's plans for synthetic biology;
Mystery surrounds new Russian laser;
Improving America's resilience to EMP;
How China and Russia hope to own the ionosphere
The Pentagon's plans for synthetic biology;
Mystery surrounds new Russian laser;
Improving America's resilience to EMP;
How China and Russia hope to own the ionosphere
Iran’s threats to America’s global interests are mounting as the Islamic Republic celebrates its 40th anniversary, and these threats mock repeated U.S. efforts over the years to appease a dangerous regime.
Hacking the Kremlin;
Russia and the North Korean issue;
The war of the churches, continued;
Russia gets serious about artificial intelligence;
The wheels of Russian bureaucracy turn slowly
Morocco’s return to conscription shouldn’t be seen as a catch-all cure.
Huawei tech removed from UK systems;
British officials worried over Huawei penetration;
Huawei snips a loose end;
China offered cover to disgraced Malay PM;
Fresh signs of economic weakness
Since 2014, we have learned just how potent Russian information warfare can be when it targets foreign governments. But as a result, we have tended to overlook the no less disruptive proliferation of attacks against Western corporations.
The state of play in Pakistan;
A truce with the Taliban?;
France braces for influx of ISIS returnees;
Is ISIS poised for a comeback already?;
The BDS-terrorist connection
A mysterious mission for Russia's new drone;
The Kremlin and the crisis in Caracas;
Moscow's trash troubles;
No care for the elderly
Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats' January 2019 "worldwide threat assessment" — provides an extensive overview of the risks that the U.S. will face in the near future, and a detailed snapshot of the challenge that America's spies and intelligence professionals see emanating from Iran.
A Cold War spy drama for the modern age;
Officially-sanctioned repression, extortion in Grozny;
A diplomatic appeal for cooperation at Davos...;
...as America's spies assess the Russia threat
The Jan. 15 instruction follows a year of Russian efforts to better unify public and private AI research.
Ear-silent drones on the horizon?;
Russia's dream of hypersonic bullet;
Diamonds improve drone fuel;
Non-lethal laser talks and burns;
Infantry to get upgraded headsets
President Trump hopes to use a second summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un in the coming weeks to jumpstart progress on dismantling the North’s nuclear program, but Kim’s recent statements and Pyongyang’s clandestine work on its program raise serious questions about the President’s approach.
[T]he recent public verbal tongue lashings by Moscow to Iran’s leaders are just that. They are part of a false narrative that Moscow can exert its will over Turkey, Iran and Syria, and that Israel has a reliable and concerned partner in the Kremlin.
Russian emigration, by the (real) numbers;
Differences over inspections, compliance doom INF talks;
Moscow's manipulation efforts in Europe
Moscow versus America's new missile defense strategy;
A Russo-Turkish meeting of the minds over Syria
President Trump's unexpected December announcement that America would pull its military forces out of Syria has reignited a debate over the future of U.S. counterterrorism policy in Washington.
David H. Shinn and Joshua Eisenman say the bold proclamation of US intent to help African countries resist China’s ‘predatory practices’ carries little weight, given that the Trump administration has failed to allocate sufficient resources for it to succeed
Next month, Iran marks the 40th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that catapulted the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his followers to power in Tehran. As that milestone approaches, the country’s leaders are working overtime to paint their clerical regime as a resounding success.
President Trump and his isolationist backers may think otherwise, but there is no real alternative to continued involvement.
Taking stock of the Yazidi tragedy;
Calling back Kazakh militants;
ISIS finds fertile soil in Africa;
Trump's pullout plans prompt Petagon contingencies;
What to do with ISIS detainees?
New naval tensions in the South China Sea;
Militarizing the border with India;
In Hong Kong, criminalizing disrespect of China's anthem;
Xi's plan for Taipei...;
...gets a chilly reception on the island
New evidence of foul play in journlist ambush;
Meet the "Kremlin kids";
Chechnya's anti-LGBT campaign
In February, NATO’s Defense Ministers will convene a ministerial conference and in April they will do so for Foreign Ministers. These meetings should reassess the importance of the Black Sea and the Balkans’ strategic importance, especially in light of recent events.
As the hypersonic weapons programs of America’s adversaries continue to mature, so too does their ability to hold the U.S. military and our allies at risk on a number of fronts.
The sick man of Europe, revisited;
WADA probe resumes;
Moscow leans on British media;
A bloody celebration;
The Kremlin's warning to Kyiv
Apparently not satisfied with persecuting the Muslim Uighur community in its own Xinjiang province by, among other things, throwing an estimated million or more of them in torturous “re-education camps,” Beijing is targeting Uighurs who live outside China. In fact, The Atlantic reported late last year that many Uighurs in the United States say Chinese authorities are contacting and threatening them.
Gaming Putin's strategic plan;
The threat from the east;
Russia's military plans to target U.S. east coast;
A Japanese push for the northern territories
The Jewish state needs an agency to review foreign investments in sensitive areas of its economy.
New U.S. law seeks to secure access to Tibet;
U.S. brings new charges against Chinese hackers...;
...as "five eyes" accuse Beijing of state-sponsored hacking;
China's Xinjiang policy draws ire in Indonesia;
A changing of the guard at the State Council
An impatient Beijing eyes east China sea energy;
The downside of China's "nationalist bubble"
Penalizing China's veterans;
China moves against $15 billion "pyramid scheme";
Beijing profits from detainee labor
Papering over Stalin's reforms;
Getting serious about statistics;
Moscow invests in hypersonics;
A Kremlin "enemies list";
Ling live the Tsar
Putin's latest political prisoner
Tehran doubles down on Palestinian "resistance";
Iran's deepening economic doldrums;
A standoff over the strait...;
...and coordination in the Caspian;
Renewed doubts surround Rafsanjani's death
Moscow is starting to put financial and logistical muscle behind its efforts to develop artificial intelligence.
During the Cold War two of Russia’s four fleets were nuclear ones, the Northern Fleet based out of Murmansk in the Kola Peninsula in the Arctic, and the Pacific Fleet based out of Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk.
Most analysts have maintained that this disposition has remained the case until now.
But can we be certain of that?
...[T}he Administration's unexpected December decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria has left Israeli policymakers on edge, and for good reason.
Human rights, Russian style;
Kyiv goes its own (religious) way;
New signs of Sino-Russian weapons cooperation;
The Kremlin declares war on rap music;
Nukes in Crimea?
A changing of the guard at the Expediency Council;
Iran's Afghan exodus;
Tehran's assassins;
The politics of Iran's water woes
Xinjiang spending on security rises exponentially;
A Cambodian crackdown on Chinese fraud;
China's Orwellian social credit system begins to bite;
Chinese scientists reveals "gene-edited babies";
Gunmen attack Chinese consulate in Karachi
A guilty plea in the Butina case;
Brussels backs Kyiv;
Ukraine's sailors face legal charges;
Moscow's OPEC coup;
The scope of Russian interference
China and Kenya have a fish fight...;
...and move to address a massive trade deficit...;
...amid an emerging corruption scandal;
China's presence becomes a political issue in Zambia;
...as Lukasa scambles to preserve ties
Climate Change and the U.S. Military
Renewables: Bridging the U.S. Energy Security Gap
How Israel Can Help Alleviate the Global Water Crisis
Food as a Terrorist Weapon
Significant Security Threats from Climate Change on the Horizon
There was a time when the mere mention of a projected Russian (or Soviet) air or naval base in Latin America would have immediately generated a firestorm in Washington. Those times are now long gone.
How Moscow pregamed the Kerch strait crisis;
An olive branch on the INF;
Iran sanctions deter Russian investment;
A terror sting in the Caucasus;
China covets Russian water
European energy security isn’t a pressing concern for most Americans — but it should be. If Europe, the West’s frontline against Russian aggression, falls under de facto Kremlin control through energy domination, America will be left vulnerable.
Israel's IED-detecting drone;
Army tech to measure readiness;
Tokyo focuses on precision strike;
Farming innovation or bioweapon?
The United States would be best served not by the creation of a wholly new global media network, but by real reform of the existing one.
A year on, Iran's protests continue - and represent a real challenge to the country's clerical regim
Has ISIS truly been defeated? More and more signs suggest that the answer is “no.”
Giving Russia a pass in the Kerch Strait equates to giving Putin a veto over where you can and cannot sail; in effect daring you to take him on. Seizing vessels and kidnapping sailors are actions more akin to the 18th century than the 21st, it is piracy plain and simple.
Russia’s latest act of aggression is neither extraordinary nor unexpected.