BERMAN: Russia’s real threat? Failure – Washington Times

Posted by Matt in January 29th, 2010 | no comment

Published in Demographics, Russia, Bluster, Death Spiral, Decline, Estimates, Failure, kremlin, Midcentury, Muslim, Russia, Soviet Union, Successor State, Washington Times

Decline breeds new and perplexing dangers
… But behind all of the Kremlin’s contemporary geopolitical bluster, the successor state of the once-mighty Soviet Union is caught in a demographic and socioeconomic death spiral.
… Russia, in other words, is dying.
… By midcentury, according to official estimates, Russia will be more than 50 percent Muslim – and the [...]

Rand: 400,000 troops needed to secure N. Korea and its ‘loose nukes’

Posted by Matt in January 25th, 2010 | no comment

Published in Koreas, Address, Brigades, Collapse, Defense Establishment, Estimates, Exact Number, Korean Defense, Lead, Lind, Loose Nukes, North-Korea, Nuclear Facilities, Paramount, Prevention, Raft, Rand, Regime, Vacuum

Lind offers specific estimates of what it would take to seize North Korea’s nuclear facilities and disarm the entire North Korean defense establishment as if the collapse of the North Korean regime were almost certain and the U.S. had to lead the charge to fill the vacuum. The study offers a raft of figures on [...]

Growing Chinese military creates uncertainty: U.S | Politics | Reuters

Posted by Matt in October 21st, 2009 | 1 comment

Published in China, Admiral, China Military, China S Military, Chinese Military, Chinese Politics, Decade, Estimates, Intelligence, Military Power, New Head, Regard, Reuters, S Pacific, seoul, Uncertainty, Unprecedented Rate, Willard

The new head of the U.S. Pacific Command, speaking separately in Seoul, said China’s military growth had exceeded the expectations of most U.S. intelligence estimates over the past decade.
Admiral Robert Willard said his greatest concern about China was “the uncertainty with regard to the military power that they’ve developed over the past year, which they’ve [...]

IDF?Fears Hezbollah ‘Military Buildup’ In Lebanon – The Philadelphia Bulletin

Posted by Matt in October 18th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Middle East, Estimates, Explosives, Fears, hezbollah, Human Shields, IDF, Iran, Israeli Army, Lebanese Civilians, Military Buildup, Military Weapons, Missiles, No Doubt, Philadelphia Bulletin, Quantities, rockets, Southern Lebanon, Spokesman, Syria, Tank

The IDF spokesman went on to say that “these incidents leave no doubt regarding Hezbollah’s practice of placing its military weapons and facilities within civilian villages and houses. Such use of Lebanese civilians as human shields endangers their safety.”
Iran and Syria continue to provide Hezbollah with large quantities of weapons and explosives, accompanied by substantial [...]

Is the U.S. Losing the Pacific? – WSJ.com

Posted by Matt in September 21st, 2009 | no comment

Published in China, American Enterprise Institute, Ballistic Missiles, beijing, Blumenthal, cyberwarfare, denial, Engagements, Estimates, Expansion Plans, Fifth Generation Technology, Fighter Jets, Kissel, Missile-Defense, Navy, Signals, Stealth, Submarine Fleet, submarines, weapons, Wsj

Yet the trend is not in America’s favor. The Obama administration has curbed the Navy’s expansion plans and sent signals that it doesn’t believe in expanding missile defense. Beijing has meanwhile poured money into access denial capabilities, including antiship ballistic missiles, cyberwarfare and antisatellite weapons. The American Enterprise Institute’s Dan Blumenthal estimates that China has [...]

Russia Ramps Up Oil Exports as OPEC Cuts Back – NYTimes.com

Posted by Matt in September 10th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Oil, Collapse, Crude Oil, Energy Ministry, Estimates, First Quarter, International Energy Agency, Market Share, Ministry Data, Oil Exports, opec, Opec Cuts, Opec Production, Prime Minister, putin, Ramps, Refined Products, Saudi-Arabia, Second Quarter, Soviet Union, Vladimir

Russia is surpassing Saudi Arabia in oil exports for the first time since the Soviet Union’s collapse as Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin exploits OPEC production cuts to gain market share.
Exports of crude oil and refined products from Russia rose to 7.4 million barrels a day in the second quarter, from 7.25 million in the [...]

Report: Iran nuclear program may have ‘military dimensions’ – Haaretz – Israel News

Posted by Matt in August 28th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Iran, Nuclear, 1 000 Kilograms, Atomic Bomb, Enriching Uranium, Estimates, haaretz, IAEA, Iran Military, Iran Nuclear Program, Israel, Israel News, Military Dimensions, military news, Nuclear Facility, Uranium Enrichment Program

The report also states that Iran continues to install centrifuges used for enriching uranium in the nuclear facility in Natanz. The IAEA estimates that Iran has over 9,000 centrifuges.
In addition, Iran is believed to be proceeding with it uranium enrichment program. According to the IAEA, it has amassed over 1,000 kilograms of low-grade enriched uranium [...]