Sarajevo, 1995 and Damascus, 2013: The use of mass attack deception to decide wars

Sarajevo, 1995 and Damascus, 2013: The use of mass attack deception to decide wars

Special to WorldTribune.com Yossef Bodansky, Senior Editor, GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs In August 1995, Western governments, and particularly the Bill Clinton White House, were in great quandary. The negotiations with the Serbs were going well as President Slobodan Milosevic was demonstrating unprecedented flexibility and accepting virtually all the demands put forward by the West. Hence, […]

Gibraltar rocks again: Spain threatens anti-UK alliance with Argentina

Gibraltar rocks again: Spain threatens anti-UK alliance with Argentina

Special to WorldTribune.com By Miles Yu, Geostrategy-Direct.com Exactly 300 years after the Treaty of Utrecht settled the century-long royal spat between Spain and England, the last remaining territorial issue between the two countries flared up again in recent weeks. At issue is the sovereignty of Gibraltar which overlooks the vital isthmus connecting the Mediterranean and […]

Options for a S. Sudan in crisis: ‘Party split, state failure, or … genuine multi-party democracy’

Options for a S. Sudan in crisis: ‘Party split, state failure, or … genuine multi-party democracy’

Special to WorldTribune.com CAIRO — The new state of South Sudan has been heading toward a split, a report said. The Sudd Institute said South Sudan’s ruling movement has been paralyzed by a crisis that has resulted in mass firings in Juba. In a report, the institute said President Salva Kiir, head of the Sudan’s […]

South Sudan leader ousts vice president seen caving to Khartoum

South Sudan leader ousts vice president seen caving to Khartoum

Special to WorldTribune.com GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs staff in Juba President Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan on July 23, 2013, issued a presidential decree removing Vice President Riek Machar Teny and dissolving the whole government of South Sudan. President Kiir dismissed all 29 ministers and deputy ministers, and did not immediately appoint a new […]

Sleeper agents planted during Cold War are sentenced in Germany

Sleeper agents planted during Cold War are sentenced in Germany

Special to WorldTribune.com By Miles Yu, Geostrategy-Direct.com In a case reminiscent of the Cold War era, a German court near Stuttgart on July 2 sentenced two Russian agents, planted in West Germany during the 1980s and active until their arrest in October 2011. Andreas Anschlag, 54, and his wife Heidrun, 48, were planted by the […]

Huge, solar-powered dragon fly: Wing span of a 747, weight of a small car

Huge, solar-powered dragon fly: Wing span of a 747, weight of a small car

John J. Metzler NEW YORK — A dragonfly-like aircraft, large but seemingly fragile, slow but silent, and powered by sunlight, has flown safely across America. The amazing and indeed epic coast to coast journey by the Swiss engineered and piloted Solar Impulse plane concluded in New York having set a number of aeronautical records for […]

Golden Prague: Formerly gray Soviet bloc state has been liberated

Golden Prague: Formerly gray Soviet bloc state has been liberated

John J. Metzler PRAGUE — Arriving in Prague’s Vaclav Havel airport, one is immediately swept into the present; not just a refurbished terminal but a new look where people actually smile, immigration officials don’t grimace, and police speed about on segways. The post-communist transformation emerges wider in driving from the airport into Prague. This former […]

Pentagon buys M-17 Russian military helicopters for Afghan Army

Pentagon buys M-17 Russian military helicopters for Afghan Army

Special to WorldTribune.com Compiled by Miles Yu, Geostrategy-Direct.com On June 16, the U.S. Army and Russia’s state-owned defense company Rosoboronexport signed a contract in Paris to buy 30 Mi-17V5 helicopters. The 30 Mi-17V5 helicopters will be used primarily for the U.S.-trained Afghan Army. They will remain in the country after U.S. forces are scheduled to […]

Putin’s chess move in Syria, with an eye on the region at large

Putin’s chess move in Syria, with an eye on the region at large

Special to WorldTribune.com By Brian M Downing Shortly after Vladimir Putin and Secretary of State John Kerry agreed to seek a negotiated settlement to the Syrian civil war, the Russian president bolstered his support for the embattled Assad government. Putin announced an impending transfer of anti-ship and surface-to-air missiles to the Syrian military. It was […]

Beijing’s divide-and-conquer ‘diplomacy’ splits alliances, public and private sectors

Beijing’s divide-and-conquer ‘diplomacy’ splits alliances, public and private sectors

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com The usually deferential official Chinese media has characterized Premier Li Keqiang performance during his just-completed four-nation visit as “Li-style diplomacy.” The last leg of Li’s first overseas trip as head of government – a mere two-day stopover in Berlin – has demonstrated the hard edge of enhanced hard-power […]