Section: The National Interest (USA)
Ukraine’s Tough T-84 Oplot-M Tank Won’t Fight Russia (And Is Being Sold to Thailand?)
Sebastien Roblin Security, Eurasia Why? Tank warfare is periodically declared obsolete in the face of the latest portable anti-tank weapons and the difficulty of transporting heavy vehicles to the battlefront. Just don’t tell that to Ukraine. The intervention of Russian tanks in August 2014 into Kiev’s conflict with separatists in...
Why NATO Isn’t a Threat to Russia
Adam Twardowski Security, Eurasia A Response to Ted Galen Carpenter Russia’s apologists blame the United States for the recent deterioration of U.S.-Russia relations by arguing that if Washington had shown greater respect for Russia’s interests after the Cold War, Moscow would not have felt the need to safeguard its security by...
Why NATO Should Fear Russia’s A2/AD Capabilities (And How to Respond)
Constance Baroudos Security, Russia’s military is modernizing with new equipment and tactics. Time for NATO to step up. Russia’s hybrid warfare and anti-access, area-denial (A2/AD) capabilities have caused great concern among neighboring nations. Moscow’s aggressiveness is viewed as seeking to weaken the NATO alliance and...
Is Russia Preparing for War?
Dave Majumdar Security, Europe Could “snap exercises” really be the disguise for something more? Is Russia preparing for a new war in Ukraine? The answer—according to some of the best analysts specializing in the region—is: Maybe. Some, like former The National Interest editor, Dr. Nikolas Gvosdev, currently the Jerome E. Levy Chair...
Egypt’s Suez Canal: An Attenuated Lifeline
Scott Savitz, Paul DeLuca Suez Canal, Middle East The Suez Canal has been a lifeline for global commerce and for military power-projection since its inauguration in 1869. The Suez Canal has been a lifeline for global commerce and for military power-projection since its inauguration in 1869. For nearly a century, it was the Royal Navy’s...
SS-21 Scarab: Russia’s Forgotten (But Deadly) Ballistic Missile
Sebastien Roblin Security, Eurasia While the world worries over other weapons platforms created by Moscow, this one is inflicting some serious battlefield losses. While NATO may preoccupied with the capabilities of Russia’s Iskander missile, the far more primitive Tochka, codenamed the SS-21 Scarab by NATO, has been responsible for hundreds...
Will the Next President Restore U.S. Primacy?
David Rieff Security, Americas America can no longer do whatever it wants, wherever it wants. Assuming Hillary Clinton wins in November (if Donald Trump wins, all bets are off for we will be in uncharted territory, perhaps even the Bermuda Triangle, in both domestic and international policy), the issue of U.S. primacy will reappear with a...
5 Lethal Russian Weapons of War Ukraine Should Fear
Robert Farley Security, Eurasia Russia holds all the cards when it comes to the never-ending not-so-frozen conflict with Ukraine. The smoldering conflict in Ukraine’s eastern provinces has now gone on for more than two years. Although an uneasy status quo has settled on the region, skirmishes continue, and tension periodically run high....
Why Russia Dreams of an Arctic Airship Fleet
Robert Beckhusen economy, Could this be the master plan to save Moscow’s economy? A fleet of high-tech aerostats sail across Russia’s remote Arctic stretches, bringing resources from the north to the busy railheads farther south. An economic boom saves the economy, and because American business wants a piece of the action, the United...
U.S. Experience In Iraq Can Teach NATO How To Hunt Russia’s “Little Green Men”
Dan Goure Hybrid War, Eurasia The answer is with another network, one made up of intelligence analysts, police, civil affairs officers, Special Forces, militias and national guards and conventional military forces. Much has been made over the past three years in Western policy statements, intelligence assessments, military plans and think tank...
