Tag: NATO

Washington, D.C., United States—After much deliberation, the U.S. government has authorized a Russian reconnaissance aircraft to fly over American soil as part of the Open Skies Treaty. Previously, the U.S. had declined to allow a specially equipped Russian Tu-214 aircraft to conduct such a flight. U.S. authorities have now determined that the aircraft does indeed […]

The Syrian Civil War  The Syrian conflict started in 2011 as an uprising against the government of Bashar Al Assad but quickly spiraled in a Civil War. The original rebel force, known as the Free Syrian Army, was splintered into several groups, one of which is ISIL (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). […]

President Trump campaigned on a platform of “America first,” which included adding pressure on European allies to begin meeting their financial obligations to the NATO alliance. While Trump was certainly not the first president to harp on what the United States often refers to as “burden sharing” among its allies, his rhetoric appears to have […]

Washington D.C., United States—U.S. President Donald Trump has said that the Pentagon is considering the installation of a permanent military mission in Poland. Previously during a White House meeting, Polish President Andrzej Duda had requested from President Trump the building of a new, permanent U.S. military base on Polish soil. He argued that this would […]

While marijuana use continues to gain social and even legal acceptance throughout a growing portion of the United States, it remains strictly prohibited for U.S. military personnel serving, living, or even visiting states that have done away with the drug’s prohibition. In America’s more progressive neighbor to the north, however, recreational marijuana use is slated […]

Skopje, FYROM—The name dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) enters its final mile. A referendum will take place Sept. 30 to decide whether or not the Prespa Agreement between the two countries will be ratified. If the agreement receives the green-light from the citizens of FYROM, the country will change […]

Brussels, Belgium — The battle for the next European Union (EU) multi-annual budget is underway. How the Europeans decide to spend their money will tell quite a lot about their priorities.  Currently, education, defence, security, and digital technology appear to be favoured, and agriculture (France’s sweetheart) shunned.  But the tedious bureaucratic process of deciding and […]

The 2017 Netflix film “War Machine” opens and closes in tragically comedic fashion, with a new commander taking the helm of the American effort in Afghanistan, intent on turning the tides of the longstanding conflict in a way his predecessors proved unable. The beats are the same, the score is the same, and, as the […]

French President Emmanuel Macron called on all European nations to invest more heavily in defense and develop financial security within the continent. Macron’s stated goal would be to reduce the continent’s reliance on the United States for both physical and financial security, but the underlying premise was clear: Macron does not believe the United States […]

The two premier fifth-generation fighter jets on the planet squared off over Norway on Wednesday in a mock dogfight that saw U.S. pilots manning the nimble F-22 Raptor and Norwegian pilots behind the stick of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. While the F-35 is widely touted as the most advanced aircraft on the planet, the […]

There’s a lot to be said for an alliance. It bolsters not only the defense of each nation that enters into the agreement, but it also helps to further develop a friendly sense of cooperation, as the terms of mutual defense often lead to an air of cooperation in economic and social realms as well. […]

Late last week, the government of Montenegro issues an international arrest warrant for Joseph Assad, a U.S. citizen born in Egypt and a former CIA agent, for his alleged role in a failed coup that aimed to prevent Montenegro’s accession into the NATO alliance in 2016. Assad’s was not the only warrant issued, as Montenegro […]