Jane's Intelligence Review - Impartial intelligence in an uncertain world

Impartial intelligence in an uncertain world

Cover Story

On the edge - The AKP shifts Turkey's political compass

On 17 July, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and four of his ministers served as pall bearers at the Istanbul funeral of Osman Nami...

02-Aug-2010

*Struggling on - Khaled Mashal, political chief of Hamas
A fragile security has been restored to the West Bank, for the short term at least, owing to renewed co-operation between Israel and the ...
20-Aug-2010

START vote is delayed in the US Senate
On 3 August, John Kerry, chairman of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced a ratification vote on a new nuclear arms control ...
13-Aug-2010

*North Caucasus leader rescinds resignation
In a video dated 2 August, North Caucasus militant leader Dokka Umarov withdrew an earlier announcement that he had stepped down from his position. ...
13-Aug-2010

US agrees on F-15 sale to Saudi Arabia
The United States is to sell 84 advanced F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia in a USD30 billion 10-year deal announced by Washington ...
13-Aug-2010

Myanmar and North Korea start rebuilding their former ties
North Korean foreign minister Pak Ui-Chun visited Myanmar on 31 July for talks with his counterpart U Nyan Win, sparking concern that nuclear technology ...
13-Aug-2010

*African Union boosts Somali troop numbers
African Union (AU) leaders meeting in the Ugandan capital Kampala agreed on 26 July to send 2,000 extra troops to reinforce the AU peacekeeping ...
13-Aug-2010

*Radio active - Myanmar seeks communications upgrade
For Myanmar's secretive government, communications appear to be increasingly important. Secret documents leaked to Jane's and a series of procurement tenders posted on the ...
13-Aug-2010

*UK government lays out police reform plans
The UK's coalition government announced a sweeping overhaul of the police on 26 July, which will see the introduction of elected police chiefs and ...
13-Aug-2010

Côte d'Ivoire announces new date for presidential election
On 5 August, Côte d'Ivoire's Prime Minister Guillaume Soro announced that the country's long-overdue presidential election has been set for 31 October. Domestic pressure ...
13-Aug-2010

Fighting addiction - Alexandre Schmidt, UNODC representative
In 2009, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) announced a dramatic decline in the trafficking of drugs through what it called 'low-resistance' ...
12-Aug-2010

*Pressure point - Venezuela's president feels the heat
For years Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has denied that his government provides a haven for rebels from Colombia's main insurgent group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces...
12-Aug-2010

*Explosive reaction - Afghan insurgents make IED adjustments
On 22 July, Afghan security forces found a cache of 1,900 kg of ammonium nitrate fertiliser, the principle ingredient in the improvised explosive devices (IEDs)...
12-Aug-2010

*Power posturing - China's tactical nuclear stance comes of age
The 2009 debut of the Dong Hai (DH)-10 cruise missile suggests China may be at the zenith of tactical nuclear weapons technology. More than 10...
12-Aug-2010

*Fertile ground - The potential for jihad in Nigeria
A spate of apparently unconnected events in the past year have raised international concerns about the potential involvement of Nigerians with militant Islamist groups. ...
11-Aug-2010

*Divided loyalty - Elections test Bosnia-Herzegovina's unity
As Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) prepares for parliamentary and presidential elections on 3 October, and the 15th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accord in November, the country...
10-Aug-2010

*Robot wars - China's weapons research gains pace
It seemed light-hearted stuff. From 21 to 23 June, the Harbin Institute of Technology in northeastern China hosted the world's first International Humanoid Robot Olympics,...
06-Aug-2010

*Coke fuelled - Criminal gangs cause instability in Jamaica
A hard-fought incursion by the police and army into the Tivoli Gardens stronghold of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke in the Jamaican capital Kingston on 24 May,...
05-Aug-2010

*On the edge - The AKP shifts Turkey's political compass
On 17 July, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and four of his ministers served as pall bearers at the Istanbul funeral of Osman Nami...
02-Aug-2010

*A kind of magic - The power of voodoo trafficking networks
West Africa's recent notoriety has been based on its growing role as a transit hub for drugs passing from South America towards Europe. However, the...
28-Jul-2010

*Oil change - Uganda bonanza, a threat to stability
With large-scale oil production set to start in the fourth quarter of 2011, Uganda is opening a major new chapter in its history. UK-listed hydrocarbon...
27-Jul-2010

*Atomic revelation - Defector reveals Myanmar's nuclear programme
Where there is smoke, there is often fire. If this rationale is correct, the smoke signals sent out by the United States since mid-2009 would...
20-Jul-2010

*Clashes continue around Nagorno-Karabakh
A fourth day of clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces around Nagorno-Karabakh was reported on 21 June, marking the worst fighting around the separatist ...
16-Jul-2010

Mexico holds polls under shadow of drug-related violence
On 4 July, Mexico held local, state and gubernatorial elections across 14 states, after an electoral period characterised by drug-related violence. Fourteen of the ...
16-Jul-2010

Israel-Turkey talks undermine stability
Reports on 1 July that a senior Israeli cabinet minister had held secret talks with Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, have threatened to split ...
16-Jul-2010

*Obama fires US commander in Afghanistan
On 23 June, US President Barack Obama appointed General David Petraeus to succeed General Stanley McChrystal as the senior US and NATO military officer ...
16-Jul-2010

*Attack of the drones - The utility of UAVs in fighting terrorism
Perceptions are sometimes more important than reality. This is certainly the case when it comes to the attacks carried out by Predator drones in Pakistan...
16-Jul-2010

*Striking back - China adapts to address labour unrest
On 17 May, in Foshan in Guangdong, close to 2,000 workers went on strike at a Honda factory demanding a 75 per cent wage increase....
16-Jul-2010

Parcel bomb kills aide to Greek counter-terrorism minister
A parcel bomb exploded at Greece's Ministry of Citizens' Protection in Athens on 24 June, killing a senior aide, just metres away from the ...
16-Jul-2010

Gambia seizes two tonnes of cocaine
Gambian authorities, assisted by their British counterparts, have seized more than two tonnes of cocaine with an estimated street value of around USD1 billion, ...
16-Jul-2010

*Shabab central - Africa's 'Taliban' grows more unified
The key to the success of the Shabab lies in its history. Although there are many stories of how it originated, one of the most...
16-Jul-2010

*New focus - Hizbullah regroups after Israel conflict
Almost four years since the end of the 2006 conflict between Hizbullah and Israel, speculation about a return to arms has been rife. Press coverage...
16-Jul-2010

*Borderline support - Malaysia and Indonesia aid Thai insurgency
Despite a Pattani-Malay diaspora that spans the Middle East, northern Europe and Southeast Asia, the separatist movement in southern Thailand has for decades been provincial...
16-Jul-2010

*Air base construction comes to light in China
Commercial satellite imagery made available to IHS Jane's by DigitalGlobe has confirmed the construction of a new air base in northeastern China over the ...
16-Jul-2010

*Farewell to arms - Congolese prepare for UN withdrawal
On 11 March, nine years after peacekeepers first arrived in the country, Democratic Republic of Congo Minister of Communications Lambert Mende Omalanga called for a...
16-Jul-2010

*Battery charge - Bolivia aims to exploit demand for lithium
At first glance, Afghanistan and Bolivia do not have much in common. One is the site of the world's largest multinational military operation and the...
13-Jul-2010

intelligence review

On the edge - The AKP shifts Turkey's political compass