Ulrich Putz, Der Spiegel (in German) | September 3, 2010
As US forces withdraw from Iraq, they are leaving behind a “security situation that is worse than it has been in years.” ++ Despite the official fanfare, there is little rejoicing, as the Americans hand over responsibility to the Iraqis. ++ Terrorists are increasingly targeting traffic policemen: For every day in August, on average five security officers have been killed. ++ The US withdrawal has upset the political balance in the country, which has led to the increase in violence. ++ The task now is to prevent civil war.
Claudia Ehrenstein, Die Welt (in German) | September 1, 2010
A study by the Center for the Transformation of the German Armed Forces claims that peak oil production may well be reached this year. ++ This would mark the end of cheap oil. ++ The study warns that markets may fail and the global economic system become destabilized as a result. ++ The global oil market would no longer abide by economic laws but rather come under the sway of bilateral agreements. ++ China for instance might secure preferential access to African oil by agreeing to increase weapons deliveries to exporter nations.
Johann Hari, The Independent | August 30, 2010
The discovery of 72 mutilated bodies near San Fernando underlines just how bloody and pervasive the so-called war on drugs in Mexico has become. ++ The Mexican drug war is the direct result of the US spending “a fortune spraying carcinogenic chemicals over Columbia’s coca-growing areas.” ++ Known as the balloon effect, drug dealing simply shifts to another location, as long as demand remains high. ++ It is time to “take the drugs trade back from murderous criminal gangs.” ++ The only way to do this is to legalize drugs.
Oliver Hassid, Le Monde (in French) | August 27, 2010
Two ways of thinking on fighting crime are emerging in France. ++ While the one group seeks salvation in security technologies and tougher sanctions, the other “fears the advent of Big Brother.” ++ However, “there are no ready-made solutions to the security challenge.” ++ Much more money needs to be directed at security policy studies that are chronically underfinanced in France. ++ An independent commission should be created to study the criminal situation on the ground.
David Ignatius, Washington Post | August 26, 2010
The Pentagon’s new “Cyberstrategy 3.0” treats our global communications highway as a zone of potential warfare. ++ The approach focuses on a concept of deterrence, whereby American infrastructure will be beefed up to a point that renders it capable of surviving any attack. ++ Militarizing cyberspace is a costly strategy with limited benefits. ++ “As with human viruses, hostile computer bugs will evade our best efforts at quarantine. A new (and expensive) obsession with cybersecurity is not what this traumatized country needs.”
Jenny C. Aker et al. | Center for Global Development | July 2010
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Tom Cargill | Chatham House | July 2010
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Phillip R. Cuccia | Strategic Studies Institute| May 2010
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Roy H. Adams III et al. | Joint Force Quarterly | May 2010
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Paul-Robert Lookman |
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Rather than aiming to become a global constabulary force, NATO should retain its historical focus on intra-European stability and allow other regional multilateral institutions to take on their own roles in their own neighborhoods.
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Youth Atlantic Treaty Association |
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