Articles written by David Axe
By David Axe
28 Jul 2010 |
World Politics Review
Fifteen days after twin suicide bombings killed 76 people in Kampala,
Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni used an African Union summit in the
capital city to declare war on the Somali group responsible for the July
11 bombing -- as well as on foreign fighters aiding the group. But to secure its borders, cities and
regional interests, Uganda must do more than target terrorists.
By David Axe
21 Jul 2010 |
World Politics Review
One of U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus' first moves after taking command
of the war effort in Afghanistan was
to begin forming
"community policing units" to help bolster local security in
Taliban-plagued areas. Reaction to the plan was swift and
alarmed. On no fewer than three occasions in the last three
years, NATO has experimented with local security forces.
All these previous efforts failed, sometimes spectacularly.
By David Axe
14 Jul 2010 |
World Politics Review
In the
July issue of the U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings magazine, an officer of the Indian navy claimed that
Islamic extremists had teamed up with sea pirates in Somalia to form a
"nexus of piracy and terrorism." In reality, where Somalia's Al-Shabab and other Islamic groups control territory,
pirates are usually among the first targets of the groups' emphasis on
law and order.
By David Axe
07 Jul 2010 |
World Politics Review
On a number of recent occasions, unannounced Chinese naval flotillas cruised in international waters off the coast of Japan, in contravention of naval protocol if not of international law. The incidents seem to portray China as a maritime
aggressor among nations apparently unprepared to counter any move by Beijing. But Japan is quietly enhancing military capabilities
that themselves pose a threat to the fast-growing Chinese navy.
By David Axe
30 Jun 2010 |
World Politics Review
When hundreds of thousands of Darfuri refugees flooded across the
Chad-Sudan border in 2003, the
U.N. and various aid groups raced to help, building a vast network of refugee
camps. But armed groups waging battle with Khartoum and its militias used the camps
as safe havens and recruiting pools. Inadvertently, the U.N., EU and
aid groups had taken a side in one of the world's worst conflicts,
thereby prolonging it.
By David Axe
23 Jun 2010 |
World Politics Review
In February 2008, the government of East Timor declared a
state of emergency after rebels under disgruntled former army officer Alfredo Reinado tried to assassinate the country's president and prime minister. Today, East
Timor faces a new and more welcome set of challenges: negotiating
potentially conflicting efforts by world and
regional powers to gain influence in the still under-developed country.
By David Axe
16 Jun 2010 |
World Politics Review
In April,
the U.S. Air Force's X-37B prototype roared into orbit atop a rocket
launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Some 15 years in development,
the X-37's technology, performance and purpose all are cloaked in
mystery. Two months after the unmanned vehicle's launch, it is still in
orbit, performing its unspecified tasks behind the military's veil of
silence and ambiguity. That has caused concern among potential rivals of
the U.S.
By David Axe
15 Jun 2010 |
World Politics Review
The past year has been pivotal for one of the world's most
important strategic industries. For the first time, the
U.S. Air Force -- the world's most important aerospace customer --
bought more unmanned aircraft than manned aircraft. In the same
time-span, the Air Force settled on the
exportable F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as its fighter of the future. If the two programs represent dual paths of current and future aerospace, they are highly divergent
paths.
By David Axe
09 Jun 2010 |
World Politics Review
On Monday, Afghan suicide bombers targeted a NATO police-training facility in Kandahar, killing an American trainer and wounding three police. The
attack was a reminder of the extreme dangers faced by Afghan security
force trainees and their NATO instructors. It also underscored the growing importance of Afghan security forces in the run-up to the July 2011 deadline for the beginning of the
U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
By David Axe
02 Jun 2010 |
World Politics Review
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his Democratic Party of
Japan rode into power in the fall of last year on the promise of tax
cuts and a fresh approach to foreign policy. After a spate of crises
less than a year after taking office, Hatoyama's approval rating
plummeted. Last week, a small leftist party allied with the DPJ split
from the ruling coalition. On Tuesday, Hatoyama announced he would step
down as prime minister.
By David Axe
26 May 2010 |
World Politics Review
Eleven years after one the
world's biggest peacekeeping forces deployed to the Democratic Republic
of Congo to oversee the
resolution of a bloody civil war, DRC President Joseph Kabila has grown
uncomfortable with the sometimes corrupt and ineffective blue-helmeted
troops. His call for an end to the U.N. mission comes at a
time of renewed international interest in the DRC's overlapping
conflicts.
By David Axe
19 May 2010 |
World Politics Review
A bus carrying around 60 passengers was winding through a thick forest in the eastern Indian
state of Chhattisgarh on Monday when it
suddenly exploded. Authorities have pinned the bomb attack on the country's Naxalite-Maoist rebels. The Indian government has promised a new strategy for rolling back the
four-decade-old insurgency, but beating the group will take more than concerted police action.
By David Axe
12 May 2010 |
World Politics Review
It was a rare refuge in a country that had known only war for 19 years: Just a few miles outside Mogadishu, the staff of the
Dr. Hawa Abdi camp offered food, medical care and protection to as many
as 6,000 Somali families at a time. Through two decades of war and
occupation, the staff and its charismatic director carefully maintained
their neutrality, despite the chaos that raged just beyond the walls. On
May 5, all that changed.
By David Axe
05 May 2010 |
World Politics Review
Boardings, called "approaches" by the Navy, are a near-daily
occurrence for many of the roughly two-dozen international warships
patrolling East African waters looking for pirates. Approaches represent "boots on the
ground" in the years-long war on piracy. There's just one problem: Few sailors from the international
counterpiracy flotilla speak Somali, Swahili or Arabic -- the standard
languages of East African seafarers.
By David Axe
28 Apr 2010 |
World Politics Review
Earlier this month, Chinese authorities finally
admitted what the Indian government had long suspected: Beijing is
building a massive, power-generating dam on China's Tsang Po river, one of five such facilities China admits to building on waters it shares
with India. As the region's water resources come under greater pressure, the rising tempers over the Tsang Po dam are
indicative of a deeper and broader problem.
By David Axe
21 Apr 2010 |
World Politics Review
On April 16, a Chadian helicopter with at least three people aboard
crashed in Adre, a town abutting the border with Sudan in the desert
region shared by the two countries. One person died in the crash, while
two were injured. The incident was an unwelcome reminder of five years
of conflict between the two impoverished nations -- even as that
conflict finally shows signs of winding down.
By David Axe
14 Apr 2010 |
World Politics Review
Recent declarations by Somali Islamists targeting radio programming represent the latest battle in
the war over information in a country that has seen 19 years of
continuous warfare. Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries in
the world for journalists -- and radio reporters are the most common
victims of violence, as radio is the main news outlet for Somalis, many
of whom are illiterate.
By David Axe
07 Apr 2010 |
World Politics Review
KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- For all the increasing deadliness of IEDs in Afghanistan, rockets and guns remain the local insurgents' weapons
of choice in Kunar. Since deploying in December, 2nd Battalion has lost two
soldiers; both were shot. That made the recent reports more alarming: The local insurgents had somehow gotten their hands on a
Russian-made sniper rifle -- and knew how to use it.
By David Axe
31 Mar 2010 |
World Politics Review
CHOWKAY VALLEY, Afghanistan -- The Chowkay Valley is one of those places on Afghanistan's fringes that remain all
but off-limits to foreign forces. The existence of such no-go zones represents a huge obstacle to NATO's
efforts to uproot criminality and violent extremism. A lack of resources
on NATO's part and the total absence of the Afghan government mean the
zones are unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
By David Axe
24 Mar 2010 |
World Politics Review
BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- Last week, Afghan troops took part in an air assault training event. The March 18 exercise illustrated an important shift in the Afghan
war effort. With several NATO nations eying a withdrawal from the war
coalition this year and next, and even the U.S. stating it would like to
trim its forces beginning in July 2011, the coalition has stepped up
its efforts to prepare Afghan security forces for full independence.
