Information Operations Increase Civilian Security Cooperation

Information operations are considered a central element of modern warfare and counterinsurgency, yet there remains little systematic evidence of their effectiveness. Using a geographic quasi-experiment conducted during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, we demonstrate that civilians exposed to the government’s information campaign resulted in more civilian security cooperation, which in turn increased bomb neutralisations. These results are robust to a number of alternative model specifications that account for troop presence, patrol-based operations, and local military aid allocation. The paper demonstrates that information campaigns can lead to substantive attitudinal and behavioural changes in an adversarial environment and substantially improve battlefield outcomes.

The Regional Role of Russia after Military Aid to Syria

One of the most important goals of Russian foreign policy during Vladimir Putins presidency is to strengthen Russian influence in the Caucasus region and Central Asia, as well as to develop relations with such countries as Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The Russian government has always expressed concern about the so-called color revolutions that took place in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, as well as the fact that many of them were supported by Western forces. Russia believes that the events of the Arab Spring are in some way similar to the aforementioned revolutions, and that with the support of the West they could bring Islamists to power, which is a dangerous model not only for the countries of the region and the countries neighboring Russia, but also for Russia itself. For these reasons, in the Syrian conflict, Moscow sought to preserve the Assad regime, because believes that the Western model in solving regional problems can lead to the general chaos, like it was, for example, in the Iraqi and Libyan models. Despite the difficulties faced by government officials in Syria since the beginning of the civil war, and thanks to Russian military assistance and reforms, Syria preserved the legitimate regime and did not allow destroying all state institutions. Participation in the Syrian conflict brought Russia a significant role in the region and allowed it to become a successful mediator in most regional issues, as well as to strengthen its economic and political relations with the most important players in the region, as Turkey, Iran, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Leverage

This article studies the connection between U.S. military aid to the Afghan Mujahedeen during the Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989) and the rise of Islamist militias in Afghanistan during the 1990s. Funding for the Mujahedeen during the conflict exceeded over $3 billion between the Carter and Reagan presidencies, and these funds were later used by Islamist insurgents during the Afghan civil wars. However, the reasons behind the U.S. support is poorly understood. The article explores U.S. State Department and National Security Council documents to suggest that U.S. aid for the Mujahedeen was primarily given to repair US-Pakistani relations and humiliate Cold War rivals rather than to support an independent Afghanistan. The article argues that contemporary foreign policy goals incensed the United States to fund the Islamist organizations that would be Al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban.

Ukraine wins US military aid but nothing on energy

Headline UKRAINE/UNITED STATES: Kyiv secures only military aid

Some Democrats want Biden to do more for Palestinians

Significance Although the Democratic Party remains broadly supportive, Israel can no longer assume unconditional support from Democratic politicians amid growing disagreements between traditional party stalwarts and younger, more liberal elements. Impacts Arms sales and military aid to Israel will continue but face increasing scrutiny from some Democrats in Congress. Democrats keen to apply principles of human rights and social justice to foreign policy will not exempt traditional allies. Polls suggest that younger Jewish Americans are less likely to feel deeply connected to Israel or supportive of its government. Democrats who have criticised Israel also have condemned violence by Hamas and recent attacks on Jews in the United States.

WHY THE SPANISH REVOLUTION IS GREAT

According to the author, the revolution in Spain of 1931-1939 can be at-tributed to the number of "great revolutions" along with the Great French and Great Russian Revolutions. This characteristic is not applied evalua-tively, but as characterizing the depth and impact on world processes. The author shows that the revolution in Spain in 1936-1937 reached the maxi-mum social depth for the twentieth century, extending democracy to the sphere of production, which became an unprecedented phenomenon. The author polemizes with those historians who see syndicalist social transfor-mations as the reason for the collapse of the industry of the Spanish Re-public. The author cites statistical and archival data that refute this myth and show that the industrial democracy sector contributed to the growth of arms production and the maintenance of production. What makes this revo-lution great is also the international significance of the events in Spain, which became the first major battle with fascism, the beginning of an epic that ended with the defeat of fascism in 1945 - although not in Spain. Ar-guing with Russian and Spanish historians, the author dwells on the ratio of internal and external factors during the war, provides factual data on the size of Soviet military aid and its dynamics, which allows us to assess its significance in the struggle in Spain and the weight of events in Spain for the pre-war situation. Due to its depth and international significance, the revolution of 1931-1939 occupies a significant place in the history of not only Spain and Europe, but also the world, its lessons remain important for the XXI century.

Training Foreign Militaries for Peace – U.S. IMET and Militarized Interstate Disputes 1976-2007

How do U.S. International Military Education and Training programs affect the recipient states` behavior in militarized interstate disputes? While the relationship between U.S. military aid in the form of arms and equipment transfer and MID involvement has been studied extensively in international relations literature the effects of U.S. IMET programs on the same phenomena has been largely ignored. This study intends to fill some of this gap. This paper proposes that American educated and trained foreign military personnel return home with a better understanding about the role of the military as an instrument of national power, civil-military relations, and the cost of war. These military personnel advise their political masters against the use of military force during international disputes leading to a decreased probability of both MID initiation and escalation. To test this argument the analysis employs a merged dataset from the Correlates of War Projects and the most prominent U.S. IMET and coups data. Using logistic regression analysis this study finds that more U.S. IMET support a country receives the less likely it initiates MIDs. The analysis also finds that countries that receive U.S. IMET support are less likely to escalate ongoing MIDs to higher levels of hostility.

RELATIONS BETWEEN BUKHARA EMIRATE AND OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN THE PROCESS OF PROTECTORATE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

The present article deals with the analysis of diplomatic and political relations between Bukhara and Ottoman empire in the process of establishment of the protectorate of the Russian empire over the emirate of Bukhara based on historical literature and written sources. It was also studied that the conquest of Turkestan by the Russian Empire was accompanied by political conflicts and diplomatic strife with a number of countries, and that local khanates sought refuge in the Muslim world and the Ottoman Empire, then a powerful power in the East.Index Terms: embassy, agency, mission, vassal, empire, sultanate, union, military aid, Bukharan tekke, secret information, instructor, periodical press, political relations, «Panturkism», «Panislamism»