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South Asia Center's Shikha Bhatnagar Spotlighted
Shikha Bhatnagar's recent appointment as Associate Director of the South Asia Center of the Atlantic Council, is yet another manifestation of a growing trend of second generation Indian Americans' advent into leading Washington, DC think tanks as senior policy analysts and associates.
Nawaz Featured on CNN, Commenting on Pakistan Floods
Shuja Nawaz, director of the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center, appeared on a broadcast of the CNN Newsroom on August 22 to discuss the upheaval, natural and political, caused by the flooding in Pakistan.
Chuck Hagel Discusses START Ratification on RussiaToday
Atlantic Council Chairman Chuck Hagel was interviewed for RussiaToday on delays in ratification of the START treaty in both the U.S. and Russia.
Shuja Nawaz on PBS NewsHour
Shuja Nawaz, Director of the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center, appeared on PBS NewsHour on August 18. Nawaz discussed the extreme flooding in Pakistan and its ramifications on stability of the region.
FEATURED ISSUE
In August the sunny calm and quiet that is a Swedish summer will be shattered by the impact of Joint Direct Attack Munitions dropped by F-16CM Fighting Falcons from US Air Force Europe.
Russia Considers Caribbean Based Bombers
James Joyner | March 14, 2009
A senior Russian general says his country is contemplating basing strategic bombers in the Caribbean, either on a Venezuelan island or Cuba. AP's David Nowak:
A Russian Air Force chief said Saturday that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has offered an island as a temporary base for strategic Russian bombers, the Interfax news agency reported. The chief of staff of Russia's long range aviation, Maj. Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev, also said Cuba could be used to base the aircraft, Interfax reported.
The Kremlin, however, said the situation was hypothetical. "The military is speaking about technical possibilities, that's all," Alexei Pavlov, a Kremlin official, told the Associated Press. "If there will be a development of the situation, then we can comment," he said.
Zhikharev said Chavez had offered "a whole island with an airdrome, which we can use as a temporary base for strategic bombers," the agency reported. "If there is a corresponding political decision, then the use of the island ... by the Russian Air Force is possible." Interfax reported he said earlier that Cuba has air bases with four or five runways long enough for the huge bombers and could be used to host the long-range planes.
[...]
Independent military analyst Alexander Golts said from a strategic point of view there was nothing for Russia to gain from basing long-range craft within relatively short range of U.S. shores. "It has no military sense. The bombers don't need any base. This is just a retaliatory gesture," Golts said, saying Russia wanted to hit back after U.S. ships patrolled Black Sea waters.
Venezuela has fifteen islands off its coast, with Isla Margarita being the most famous.
I'm sure Golts' assessment is right here. The Soviets did not have permanent bases in the area during the Cold War, so the strategic rationale for doing so now is hard to fathom. Most likely, this is just a selective leak to the press to tweak the Obama administration.
James Joyner is managing editor of the Atlantic Council. Photo from Reuters Pictures.
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