Tensions with Russia could prompt NATO strategy rethink | Ukraine launches Western-style police force to set a marker for reform | IS Boosts Russian-Language Propaganda Efforts- 11:53 AM 7/6/2015
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Ukraine Launches Western-style Police Force
KYIV—
The first 2,000 recruits of a new Ukrainian police force fanned throughout the capital Kyiv over the weekend, intended by the government as a visible sign of its commitment to shake off a deep-rooted culture of corruption in public institutions.
Trained by U.S. and Canadian forces, and given less militaristic uniforms and the name 'Politsiya' to mark a break with the old, Soviet-style 'Militsiya', the young officers pledged to forsake the bribes associated with their job.
President Petro Poroshenko told the force, which will first patrol big towns and then be deployed across the country, that it was their task not only to uphold the law but "also to make people believe that reforms are inevitable."
It was perhaps the most visible break with Ukraine's Soviet past since pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February last year by the "Maidan" protests against corruption and in favor of closer ties with Western Europe.
But the new force, whose navy blue uniforms and caps would not look out of place on the streets of New York, will have its work cut out in a society where police and courts are widely seen as favoring the powerful, and bribes are used for everything from avoiding speeding penalties to getting into good schools.
In a poll released last month by the Razumkov Center, an independent research group, respondents scored the progress of reforms at only two or three out of 10. Almost 81 percent thought the fight against corruption was not working.
"I want to believe it," said Natalia, a middle-aged woman who did not want to give her last name, after watching the new recruits stand at attention to be addressed by Poroshenko.
"I hope, deep in my soul, that something will change for the better."
False starts
Another onlooker, Serhiy Makarchuk, said he hoped there would be no more bribery, "and that there will be order, so that they won't be drinking alcohol on the streets."
Ukraine's battle against corruption has had a few false starts: the bill regulating the new police force has yet to be signed by the president after months of wrangling in parliament.
For now, they must adhere to the old law.
A much-vaunted Anti-Corruption Bureau, charged with weeding out high-level corruption, was finally set up in April after six months of discussions, while some ministers are still struggling with the definition of graft.
Last week, the minister for ecology and natural resources, Ihor Shevchenko, was dismissed after accepting a lift on a businessman's private jet from the French resort town of Nice to Kyiv.
Shevchenko said he had paid $1,000 for the trip, and that he did not see any evidence of corruption.
For Dmytro Korchynsky, who fought during the "Maidan" and formed the St Mary's Christian volunteer battalion, which is helping Kyiv's forces fight pro-Russian rebels in the east, the new government has done little to fulfil the demands of the protests.
"The majority of the Ukrainian people, I think, are pretty poor," he told Reuters.
"That Yanukovych stole from the country is bad enough, but these people are stealing from a country at war, [which] is even worse. This is just looting."
Read the whole story
· ·
KYIV—
The first 2,000 recruits of a new Ukrainian police force fanned throughout the capital Kyiv over the weekend, intended by the government as a visible sign of its commitment to shake off a deep-rooted culture of corruption in public institutions.
Trained by U.S. and Canadian forces, and given less militaristic uniforms and the name 'Politsiya' to mark a break with the old, Soviet-style 'Militsiya', the young officers pledged to forsake the bribes associated with their job.
President Petro Poroshenko told the force, which will first patrol big towns and then be deployed across the country, that it was their task not only to uphold the law but "also to make people believe that reforms are inevitable."
It was perhaps the most visible break with Ukraine's Soviet past since pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February last year by the "Maidan" protests against corruption and in favor of closer ties with Western Europe.
But the new force, whose navy blue uniforms and caps would not look out of place on the streets of New York, will have its work cut out in a society where police and courts are widely seen as favoring the powerful, and bribes are used for everything from avoiding speeding penalties to getting into good schools.
In a poll released last month by the Razumkov Center, an independent research group, respondents scored the progress of reforms at only two or three out of 10. Almost 81 percent thought the fight against corruption was not working.
"I want to believe it," said Natalia, a middle-aged woman who did not want to give her last name, after watching the new recruits stand at attention to be addressed by Poroshenko.
"I hope, deep in my soul, that something will change for the better."
False starts
Another onlooker, Serhiy Makarchuk, said he hoped there would be no more bribery, "and that there will be order, so that they won't be drinking alcohol on the streets."
Ukraine's battle against corruption has had a few false starts: the bill regulating the new police force has yet to be signed by the president after months of wrangling in parliament.
For now, they must adhere to the old law.
For now, they must adhere to the old law.
A much-vaunted Anti-Corruption Bureau, charged with weeding out high-level corruption, was finally set up in April after six months of discussions, while some ministers are still struggling with the definition of graft.
Last week, the minister for ecology and natural resources, Ihor Shevchenko, was dismissed after accepting a lift on a businessman's private jet from the French resort town of Nice to Kyiv.
Shevchenko said he had paid $1,000 for the trip, and that he did not see any evidence of corruption.
For Dmytro Korchynsky, who fought during the "Maidan" and formed the St Mary's Christian volunteer battalion, which is helping Kyiv's forces fight pro-Russian rebels in the east, the new government has done little to fulfil the demands of the protests.
"The majority of the Ukrainian people, I think, are pretty poor," he told Reuters.
"That Yanukovych stole from the country is bad enough, but these people are stealing from a country at war, [which] is even worse. This is just looting."
Read the whole story
· ·
Ukraine launches Western-style police force to set a marker for reform
KIEV The first 2,000 recruits of a new Ukrainian police force passed out in the capital Kiev at the weekend, intended by the government as a visible sign of its commitment to shake off a deep-rooted culture of corruption in public institutions.
Trained by U.S. and Canadian forces, and given less militaristic uniforms and the name 'Politsiya' to mark a break with the old, Soviet-style 'Militsiya', the young officers pledged to forsake the bribes associated with their job.
President Petro Poroshenko told the force, which will first patrol big towns and then be deployed across the country, that it was their task not only to uphold the law but "also to make people believe that reforms are inevitable".
It was perhaps the most visible break with Ukraine's Soviet past since pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovich was ousted in February last year by the "Maidan" protests against corruption and in favor of closer ties with western Europe.
But the new force, whose navy blue uniforms and caps would not look out of place on the streets of New York, will have its work cut out in a society where police and courts are widely seen as favoring the powerful, and bribes are used for everything from avoiding speeding penalties to getting into good schools.
In a poll released last month by the Razumkov Centre, an independent research group, respondents scored the progress of reforms at only two or three out of 10. Almost 81 percent thought the fight against corruption was not working.
"I want to believe it," said Natalia, a middle-aged woman who did not want to give her last name, after watching the new recruits stand to attention to be addressed by Poroshenko.
"I hope, deep in my soul, that something will change for the better."
FALSE STARTS
Another onlooker, Serhiy Makarchuk, said he hoped there would be no more bribery, "and that there will be order, so that they won't be drinking alcohol on the streets".
Ukraine's battle against corruption has had a few false starts: the bill regulating the new police force has yet to be signed by the president after months of wrangling in parliament. For now, they must adhere to the old law.
A much-vaunted Anti-Corruption Bureau, charged with weeding out high-level corruption, was finally set up in April after six months of discussions, while some ministers are still struggling with the definition of graft.
Last week, the minister for ecology and natural resources, Ihor Shevchenko, was dismissed after accepting a lift on a businessman's private jet from the French resort town of Nice to Kiev.
Shevchenko said he had paid $1,000 for the trip, and that he did not see any evidence of corruption.
For Dmytro Korchynsky, who fought during the "Maidan" and formed the St Mary's Christian volunteer battalion, which is helping Kiev's forces fight pro-Russian rebels in the east, the new government has done little to fulfill the demands of the protests.
"The majority of the Ukrainian people, I think, are pretty poor," he told Reuters.
"That Yanukovich stole from the country is bad enough, but these people are stealing from a country at war is even worse. This is just looting."
(Additional reporting by Natalia Zinets, writing by Elizabeth Piper; editing by Timothy Heritage andKevin Liffey)
Read the whole story
· · ·
KIEV The first 2,000 recruits of a new Ukrainian police force passed out in the capital Kiev at the weekend, intended by the government as a visible sign of its commitment to shake off a deep-rooted culture of corruption in public institutions.
Trained by U.S. and Canadian forces, and given less militaristic uniforms and the name 'Politsiya' to mark a break with the old, Soviet-style 'Militsiya', the young officers pledged to forsake the bribes associated with their job.
President Petro Poroshenko told the force, which will first patrol big towns and then be deployed across the country, that it was their task not only to uphold the law but "also to make people believe that reforms are inevitable".
It was perhaps the most visible break with Ukraine's Soviet past since pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovich was ousted in February last year by the "Maidan" protests against corruption and in favor of closer ties with western Europe.
But the new force, whose navy blue uniforms and caps would not look out of place on the streets of New York, will have its work cut out in a society where police and courts are widely seen as favoring the powerful, and bribes are used for everything from avoiding speeding penalties to getting into good schools.
In a poll released last month by the Razumkov Centre, an independent research group, respondents scored the progress of reforms at only two or three out of 10. Almost 81 percent thought the fight against corruption was not working.
"I want to believe it," said Natalia, a middle-aged woman who did not want to give her last name, after watching the new recruits stand to attention to be addressed by Poroshenko.
"I hope, deep in my soul, that something will change for the better."
FALSE STARTS
Another onlooker, Serhiy Makarchuk, said he hoped there would be no more bribery, "and that there will be order, so that they won't be drinking alcohol on the streets".
Ukraine's battle against corruption has had a few false starts: the bill regulating the new police force has yet to be signed by the president after months of wrangling in parliament. For now, they must adhere to the old law.
A much-vaunted Anti-Corruption Bureau, charged with weeding out high-level corruption, was finally set up in April after six months of discussions, while some ministers are still struggling with the definition of graft.
Last week, the minister for ecology and natural resources, Ihor Shevchenko, was dismissed after accepting a lift on a businessman's private jet from the French resort town of Nice to Kiev.
Shevchenko said he had paid $1,000 for the trip, and that he did not see any evidence of corruption.
For Dmytro Korchynsky, who fought during the "Maidan" and formed the St Mary's Christian volunteer battalion, which is helping Kiev's forces fight pro-Russian rebels in the east, the new government has done little to fulfill the demands of the protests.
"The majority of the Ukrainian people, I think, are pretty poor," he told Reuters.
"That Yanukovich stole from the country is bad enough, but these people are stealing from a country at war is even worse. This is just looting."
(Additional reporting by Natalia Zinets, writing by Elizabeth Piper; editing by Timothy Heritage andKevin Liffey)
Read the whole story
· · ·
BRICS summit gives Putin a chance to show Russia not isolated
MOSCOW The BRICS emerging economies will launch a development bank at a summit this week which President Vladimir Putin hopes will help reduce Western dominance of world financial institutions and show Moscow is not isolated.
At a meeting in the remote Russian city of Ufa, originally a fortress built on the orders of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa also aim to put the last touches to a $100-billion contingency currency reserves pool.
The BRICS account for a fifth of the world's economic output and 40 percent of its population. The pool and New Development Bank, with an initial $50 billion in capital, are central to their efforts to reshape the Western-dominated financial system.
"At this meeting we will make operational our two biggest institutions, which is key for us to advance as a group and learn more from each other," said a Brazilian official involved in the preparations for the meeting. "Nobody thought that was going to be possible a year ago when we ratified the proposals."
The official asked not to be named as he is not allowed to speak publicly about the two-day summit starting on Wednesday in Ufa, nearly 1,170 km (730 miles) southeast of Moscow.
For Putin, whose focus has shifted to the emerging economies and especially Asia since the West imposed sanctions on Moscow over its role in the Ukraine crisis, the summit is also a chance to show the West that Russia can get along fine without it.
"The BRICS, in addition to their economic and pragmatic agenda, have become an influential factor in world politics," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week.
He denied the five countries' efforts to join forces were aimed against anyone else and praised their "important stabilizing role" in international affairs.
SLOW IN COMING
The unity of the BRICS nations is important for Putin in his standoff with the West over Ukraine, especially as Russia suffered the symbolic blow of being suspended from the Group of Eight industrial powers over its seizure of the Crimea region.
But independent foreign policy experts say the BRICS group is still a long way from achieving its main goals and Russian ties with China remain less developed than Moscow would like.
Progress on the New Development Bank, first proposed in 2012, has also been slow.
At last year's BRICS summit in Brazil it was agreed the headquarters would be in Shanghai but China ratified the bank only last week and it is not expected to be operational until next year. Its capital still has to be rated to issue debt.
Other emerging markets such as Turkey, Mexico, Indonesia and Nigeria could join as partners at a later date.
The contingency reserves pool is expected to start operating immediately to help members if they are hit by a sudden exodus of foreign capital.
The summit coincides with a meeting in Ufa of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a security bloc grouping China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, which India and Pakistan are set to join.
Putin is also expected to hold talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Ufa. Iran has observer status in the SCO.
(Additional reporting by Oksana Kobzeva in Moscow, Alonso Soto in Brasilia and Manor Kumaj in New Delhi, Writing by Lidia Kelly, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Ralph Boulton)
Read the whole story
· · ·
MOSCOW The BRICS emerging economies will launch a development bank at a summit this week which President Vladimir Putin hopes will help reduce Western dominance of world financial institutions and show Moscow is not isolated.
At a meeting in the remote Russian city of Ufa, originally a fortress built on the orders of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa also aim to put the last touches to a $100-billion contingency currency reserves pool.
The BRICS account for a fifth of the world's economic output and 40 percent of its population. The pool and New Development Bank, with an initial $50 billion in capital, are central to their efforts to reshape the Western-dominated financial system.
"At this meeting we will make operational our two biggest institutions, which is key for us to advance as a group and learn more from each other," said a Brazilian official involved in the preparations for the meeting. "Nobody thought that was going to be possible a year ago when we ratified the proposals."
The official asked not to be named as he is not allowed to speak publicly about the two-day summit starting on Wednesday in Ufa, nearly 1,170 km (730 miles) southeast of Moscow.
For Putin, whose focus has shifted to the emerging economies and especially Asia since the West imposed sanctions on Moscow over its role in the Ukraine crisis, the summit is also a chance to show the West that Russia can get along fine without it.
"The BRICS, in addition to their economic and pragmatic agenda, have become an influential factor in world politics," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week.
He denied the five countries' efforts to join forces were aimed against anyone else and praised their "important stabilizing role" in international affairs.
SLOW IN COMING
The unity of the BRICS nations is important for Putin in his standoff with the West over Ukraine, especially as Russia suffered the symbolic blow of being suspended from the Group of Eight industrial powers over its seizure of the Crimea region.
But independent foreign policy experts say the BRICS group is still a long way from achieving its main goals and Russian ties with China remain less developed than Moscow would like.
Progress on the New Development Bank, first proposed in 2012, has also been slow.
At last year's BRICS summit in Brazil it was agreed the headquarters would be in Shanghai but China ratified the bank only last week and it is not expected to be operational until next year. Its capital still has to be rated to issue debt.
Other emerging markets such as Turkey, Mexico, Indonesia and Nigeria could join as partners at a later date.
The contingency reserves pool is expected to start operating immediately to help members if they are hit by a sudden exodus of foreign capital.
The summit coincides with a meeting in Ufa of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a security bloc grouping China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, which India and Pakistan are set to join.
Putin is also expected to hold talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Ufa. Iran has observer status in the SCO.
(Additional reporting by Oksana Kobzeva in Moscow, Alonso Soto in Brasilia and Manor Kumaj in New Delhi, Writing by Lidia Kelly, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Ralph Boulton)
Read the whole story
· · ·
Tensions with Russia could prompt NATO strategy rethink
BRUSSELS NATO is preparing for a long standoff with Russia, reluctantly accepting that the Ukraine conflict has fundamentally transformed Europe's security landscape and that it may have to abandon hope of a constructive relationship with Moscow.
Some NATO allies, anxious to avoid a new Cold War or being dragged into an expensive arms race, had hoped the crisis in relations caused by President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region last year would blow over quickly, just as a chill over Russia's 2008 war with Georgia did.
But realization is dawning at NATO headquarters that that is not going to happen and that relations with Russia have entered a new frosty period that could last a long time, possibly requiring a formal change in the alliance's doctrine.
Both sides have escalated their rhetoric over eastern Ukraine, where the U.S.-dominated, 28-nation alliance accuses Russia of sending in troops to back pro-Russian separatists - charges denied by Moscow.
The tension has prompted debate about whether it is time to rewrite NATO's master strategy document, designed at a time when there were high hopes that the enmity of the Cold War years could be set aside and Russia and NATO could work together.
The "strategic concept", adopted by NATO leaders at a Lisbon summit in 2010, rates the threat of a conventional attack on NATO territory as low.
The document, which sets out the alliance's goals and missions, says NATO-Russia cooperation is of strategic importance and adds: "We want to see a true strategic partnership between NATO and Russia."
"Some of the language (in the document) having to do with Russia as a strategic partner of the alliance is certainly cast into question given Russia's behavior," U.S. Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute told reporters last month, though he said no decision had yet been taken to revise it.
EXISTENTIAL CHALLENGE
NATO staff are drawing up more detailed contingency plans for various secret scenarios and war in Europe is no longer seen as completely out of the question.
Whereas NATO has in recent years been able to choose whether to get involved in conflicts such as in Afghanistan or Libya, in future it "could be forced to respond to an existential challenge," a NATO diplomat said.
Under NATO's founding treaty, member states are obliged to treat an attack on any partner as an attack on the entire bloc.
Lithuanian Defence Minister Juozas Olekas said NATO had to adapt to a new security environment and rewriting the 35-page strategy document was "one of the options".
"Today Russia is a threat for us," he told Reuters on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels last month, adding that the alliance had not closed the door to possible future cooperation but Russia must respect international law.
Lithuania is one of three Baltic states that declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1990 or 1991, joined NATO in 2004, and feel particularly threatened by Russia's behavior in Ukraine and by its increased military activity in the skies and seas around NATO's borders. Lithuania, like the other Baltic states, has an ethnic Russian minority.
An announcement by the Russian prosecutor-general's office last week that it would review a 1991 Soviet decision to recognize their independence caused alarm in the Baltic states, though the Kremlin sought to play down its significance.
The NATO diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was little argument that the strategy document was out of date and would have to be rewritten "reasonably soon".
The chill in relations with Russia would be lasting because Putin's survival in power "is linked to permanent confrontation with the West," the diplomat said.
But some allies, including Germany, are reluctant to change the strategy document now, partly because it would entail about a year's work and partly because they do not want to antagonize Russia by closing the door on cooperation, or take any step that could undermine a truce agreement in Ukraine, the diplomat said.
Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Kremlin's Security Council, accused the West on Friday of seeking to change Russia's leadership.
PANDORA'S BOX
Diplomats worry that rewriting the strategic concept could open a Pandora's box, with some southern NATO allies, which think the alliance concentrates too much on security challenges from the east, wanting a greater focus on new threats from the south, such as the Islamic State group based in Syria and Iraq.
"It would stimulate a fundamental review of European security, of our approach to the south," one NATO official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
Removing the aspiration of a strategic partnership with Russia from the text would be "a big political step and maybe not necessary", the official said.
NATO seems likely to opt for compromise. NATO leaders could order work on a revamp of the strategy document when they meet in Warsaw next July. It would then be ready for approval when they next meet, probably in 2018, diplomats said.
NATO's "strategic concept" has been rewritten in the past after watershed changes in security, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall or the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities.
The 2010 version was conceived when NATO's major operation was in Afghanistan. Since the end of NATO combat operations there and the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, NATO's focus has returned squarely to defending its own territory.
Moving to reassure eastern European allies that feel threatened by Russia's actions, NATO has increased air patrols and troop rotations in the Baltics, stepped up exercises and is creating a rapid reaction force. Moscow portrays NATO action as provocative and denies any intention on its part to intimidate.
After the annexation of Crimea, NATO suspended practical cooperation with Russia, which had ranged from maintaining Afghan army helicopters to counter-terrorism and combating piracy off Somalia.
The overthrow of Ukraine's former pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovich, last year, applauded in the West, deepened Moscow's suspicions about NATO encroachment in its backyard.
Last December, Putin, hit by Western sanctions over Russia's actions in Ukraine, signed a new military doctrine that named NATO expansion among key external risks.
Russia last week denounced a new U.S. military strategy that accused Moscow of failing to respect its neighbors' sovereignty as "confrontational".
The Russian Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on a possible change in the NATO strategy document.
Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in Moscow, said Russia would react negatively to a change in the NATO strategy document.
"Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO has been searching for a raison d’être ... Now NATO, and especially (the) military staff, are relieved that they can return to the good old times," he told Reuters.
Alexander Golts, defense columnist and deputy editor of online newspaper Yezhednevny Zhurnal, said he was very pessimistic about future Russia-NATO relations.
"We are moving very rapidly to start a new Cold War," he said.
Read the whole story
· · · · ·
BRUSSELS NATO is preparing for a long standoff with Russia, reluctantly accepting that the Ukraine conflict has fundamentally transformed Europe's security landscape and that it may have to abandon hope of a constructive relationship with Moscow.
Some NATO allies, anxious to avoid a new Cold War or being dragged into an expensive arms race, had hoped the crisis in relations caused by President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region last year would blow over quickly, just as a chill over Russia's 2008 war with Georgia did.
But realization is dawning at NATO headquarters that that is not going to happen and that relations with Russia have entered a new frosty period that could last a long time, possibly requiring a formal change in the alliance's doctrine.
Both sides have escalated their rhetoric over eastern Ukraine, where the U.S.-dominated, 28-nation alliance accuses Russia of sending in troops to back pro-Russian separatists - charges denied by Moscow.
The tension has prompted debate about whether it is time to rewrite NATO's master strategy document, designed at a time when there were high hopes that the enmity of the Cold War years could be set aside and Russia and NATO could work together.
The "strategic concept", adopted by NATO leaders at a Lisbon summit in 2010, rates the threat of a conventional attack on NATO territory as low.
The document, which sets out the alliance's goals and missions, says NATO-Russia cooperation is of strategic importance and adds: "We want to see a true strategic partnership between NATO and Russia."
"Some of the language (in the document) having to do with Russia as a strategic partner of the alliance is certainly cast into question given Russia's behavior," U.S. Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute told reporters last month, though he said no decision had yet been taken to revise it.
EXISTENTIAL CHALLENGE
NATO staff are drawing up more detailed contingency plans for various secret scenarios and war in Europe is no longer seen as completely out of the question.
Whereas NATO has in recent years been able to choose whether to get involved in conflicts such as in Afghanistan or Libya, in future it "could be forced to respond to an existential challenge," a NATO diplomat said.
Under NATO's founding treaty, member states are obliged to treat an attack on any partner as an attack on the entire bloc.
Lithuanian Defence Minister Juozas Olekas said NATO had to adapt to a new security environment and rewriting the 35-page strategy document was "one of the options".
"Today Russia is a threat for us," he told Reuters on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels last month, adding that the alliance had not closed the door to possible future cooperation but Russia must respect international law.
Lithuania is one of three Baltic states that declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1990 or 1991, joined NATO in 2004, and feel particularly threatened by Russia's behavior in Ukraine and by its increased military activity in the skies and seas around NATO's borders. Lithuania, like the other Baltic states, has an ethnic Russian minority.
An announcement by the Russian prosecutor-general's office last week that it would review a 1991 Soviet decision to recognize their independence caused alarm in the Baltic states, though the Kremlin sought to play down its significance.
The NATO diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was little argument that the strategy document was out of date and would have to be rewritten "reasonably soon".
The chill in relations with Russia would be lasting because Putin's survival in power "is linked to permanent confrontation with the West," the diplomat said.
But some allies, including Germany, are reluctant to change the strategy document now, partly because it would entail about a year's work and partly because they do not want to antagonize Russia by closing the door on cooperation, or take any step that could undermine a truce agreement in Ukraine, the diplomat said.
Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Kremlin's Security Council, accused the West on Friday of seeking to change Russia's leadership.
PANDORA'S BOX
Diplomats worry that rewriting the strategic concept could open a Pandora's box, with some southern NATO allies, which think the alliance concentrates too much on security challenges from the east, wanting a greater focus on new threats from the south, such as the Islamic State group based in Syria and Iraq.
"It would stimulate a fundamental review of European security, of our approach to the south," one NATO official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
Removing the aspiration of a strategic partnership with Russia from the text would be "a big political step and maybe not necessary", the official said.
NATO seems likely to opt for compromise. NATO leaders could order work on a revamp of the strategy document when they meet in Warsaw next July. It would then be ready for approval when they next meet, probably in 2018, diplomats said.
NATO's "strategic concept" has been rewritten in the past after watershed changes in security, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall or the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities.
The 2010 version was conceived when NATO's major operation was in Afghanistan. Since the end of NATO combat operations there and the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, NATO's focus has returned squarely to defending its own territory.
Moving to reassure eastern European allies that feel threatened by Russia's actions, NATO has increased air patrols and troop rotations in the Baltics, stepped up exercises and is creating a rapid reaction force. Moscow portrays NATO action as provocative and denies any intention on its part to intimidate.
After the annexation of Crimea, NATO suspended practical cooperation with Russia, which had ranged from maintaining Afghan army helicopters to counter-terrorism and combating piracy off Somalia.
The overthrow of Ukraine's former pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovich, last year, applauded in the West, deepened Moscow's suspicions about NATO encroachment in its backyard.
Last December, Putin, hit by Western sanctions over Russia's actions in Ukraine, signed a new military doctrine that named NATO expansion among key external risks.
Russia last week denounced a new U.S. military strategy that accused Moscow of failing to respect its neighbors' sovereignty as "confrontational".
The Russian Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on a possible change in the NATO strategy document.
Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in Moscow, said Russia would react negatively to a change in the NATO strategy document.
"Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO has been searching for a raison d’être ... Now NATO, and especially (the) military staff, are relieved that they can return to the good old times," he told Reuters.
Alexander Golts, defense columnist and deputy editor of online newspaper Yezhednevny Zhurnal, said he was very pessimistic about future Russia-NATO relations.
"We are moving very rapidly to start a new Cold War," he said.
Read the whole story
· · · · ·
Russian Bomber Crashes in Pacific Region, Both Pilots Killed
Russia's Defense Ministry says a military aircraft crashed during a training flight and both pilots were killed.
The Su-24 bomber crashed Monday while taking off from an airfield in the Khabarovsk region in Russia's Far East, the ministry said in a statement, adding that the cause of the crash wasn't yet known.
The crash is the fifth one involving a Russian military aircraft in the past month, but the first with fatalities.
On Friday, a MiG-29 fighter jet went down in southern Russia, but the pilot ejected safely. Another MiG-29 crashed in southern Russia in June, its crew of two bailing out safely.
Also in June, a Su-34 bomber ran off the runway upon landing and overturned, and a Tu-95 bomber also ran off the runway.
Russia's Defense Ministry says a military aircraft crashed during a training flight and both pilots were killed.
The Su-24 bomber crashed Monday while taking off from an airfield in the Khabarovsk region in Russia's Far East, the ministry said in a statement, adding that the cause of the crash wasn't yet known.
The crash is the fifth one involving a Russian military aircraft in the past month, but the first with fatalities.
On Friday, a MiG-29 fighter jet went down in southern Russia, but the pilot ejected safely. Another MiG-29 crashed in southern Russia in June, its crew of two bailing out safely.
Also in June, a Su-34 bomber ran off the runway upon landing and overturned, and a Tu-95 bomber also ran off the runway.
IS Boosts Russian-Language Propaganda Efforts
The militant group Islamic State (IS) has stepped up its Russian-language propaganda efforts, another sign that its Russian-speaking contingent is becoming more powerful.
Though Russian-speaking IS militants have put out their own propaganda for some time, in recent weeks a new Russian-language IS media wing -- Furat Media -- has emerged that appears to have taken on official, or at least semiofficial, status within IS's overall media operations.
IS currently produces official propaganda messages in Arabic, English, Kurdish, French, and Russian, according to Aaron Y. Zelin, an analyst with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
And though IS has not made any specific announcement declaring that Furat is an official IS media wing, Zelin says it is an "unofficial official account."
Furat has opened accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and the Russian social network VKontakte and maintains a website, Furat.info, through which it disseminates various forms of IS propaganda, including video messages by Russian-speaking militants and Arabic- and English-language videos dubbed into Russian.
Furat, whose name comes from the Arabic word for the Euphrates River, even has its own logo, a blue square with two white, wavy lines suggesting water.
Formalizing Operations
That Russian-speaking militants in Syria are disseminating propaganda is nothing new.
The various factions of militants -- including those fighting alongside IS as well as individual factions -- have had their own websites and social-media accounts almost since they first emerged in Syria in late 2012.
But as IS's Russian-speaking faction has grown in prominence -- and in numbers -- it has transformed its media operations from piecemeal efforts by what appeared to be a handful of militants into an increasingly slick and semiprofessional operation.
The main precursor to Furat began life around early 2013 as FiSyria, a website run by a group of Chechen militants led by Umar al-Shishani, an ethnic Kist from Georgia's Pankisi Gorge. At first, FiSyria was effectively Shishani's personal site, offering news about battles he and his fellow Chechen militants were involved in.
But when Shishani moved on to bigger things -- he is now IS's military commander in Syria -- FiSyria changed, too.
After Shishani swore an oath of allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and moved over to IS with a group of militants in late 2013, FiSyria went with him and became a Russian-language IS propaganda website.
Now, FiSyria redirects to Furat's website.
Furat also seems to have swallowed another IS media group, ShamToday, which was previously active on Russian social media and which was run by a group of North Caucasian militants.
Increased Output
Furat has significantly increased the volume of IS propaganda available to Russian-speakers, primarily by publishing existing IS videos with Russian subtitles.
But to do this, the group will have had to recruit additional "staff" who have a good enough understanding of spoken Arabic to allow them to translate the videos into Russian.
Clues of how IS's Russian-language media operations work can be found on social media, where Russian-speaking militants have posted photographs of IS media offices.
x
The Islamic State militant, though to be from Kazakhstan, who is reportedly behind the social-media account "Artyom."
A Kazakh IS militant who goes by the name Artyom posted a photograph of what he said was an "IS Media Center" on July 1. The photograph shows Artyom and another militant sitting in an office with laptops and cellphones.
Not Just Chechens
The presence of Artyom, who is based with a Russian-speaking IS contingent in Mosul, in an IS "media center" is another sign that IS's Russian-language propaganda efforts are changing and growing.
In the past, Russian-speaking IS propaganda efforts appeared to be run primarily by and for North Caucasian militants.
Recently, however, Central Asians have also been photographed undertaking IS propaganda work.
Prominent Tajik militant Abu Daoud (real name Parviz Saidrakhmonov) has been photographed several times working in an IS "Media Center."
Saidrakhmonov, who is thought to have been killed, has been linked to several prominent Russian-speaking IS ideologues, including Daghestani preachers Akhmad Medinsky and Nadir Abu Khalid. Both Daghestanis are close to Abu Jihad, an ethnic Karachay who is Shishani's close confidante and who has been involved in IS propaganda efforts for many months -- and who is likely one of those behind Furat Media.
Recruitment And Retention
Furat's work has two main purposes.
First, it is dedicated to recruiting new Russian-speaking militants, both from the Russian Federation -- particularly the North Caucasus -- and from elsewhere in the former Soviet Union, especially from Central Asia.
Furat is also engaged in spreading IS messages to Russian-speaking militants who are already fighting alongside the group, both via social media and by creating and sending CDs containing Russian-subtitled IS propaganda videos to various Russian-speaking militant groups in IS-controlled territory.
A July 1 Facebook post included photographs of one batch of CDs with an explanation that these were for "brothers in the caliphate," the term used by IS for territory under its control.
x
Screen grab of the Uzbek IS militant Abu Hussein al-Uzbeki on a video with the Furat Media logo.
By translating Arabic-language material into Russian, Furat is able to ensure that all Russian-speakers in IS-controlled territories have access to the same messages and ideology as their Arabic-speaking counterparts. So, too, can potential recruits back home in the Russian Federation or Central Asia.
Furat is also playing an important role in building ideological bridges between militants in Syria and Iraq, and those who are still in the North Caucasus.
It was Furat which announced that IS had declared the establishment of a "province" in the North Caucasus. The propaganda wing also issued a professionally produced video, Unity Of The Mujahideen (Jihad Fighters) Of The Caucasus, which included interviews with Russian-speaking militants in Iraq and Syria who praised the pledges of allegiance to IS by North Caucasians.
Resilience
Although there have been efforts by social-media websites like Facebook and Twitter to crack down on pro-IS accounts, Furat has so far been resilient.
Furat's Facebook account has already been banned, but the group opened a new one -- this time a closed group -- on July 1. By July 2, the group had 87 members.
And while several countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan, have banned pro-IS and other Islamist websites, they have been less successful in blocking social media.
A group of websites listed by the Tajik Interior Ministry on July 2 as being banned does not include Furat Media's site or its social-media accounts.
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The militant group Islamic State (IS) has stepped up its Russian-language propaganda efforts, another sign that its Russian-speaking contingent is becoming more powerful.
Though Russian-speaking IS militants have put out their own propaganda for some time, in recent weeks a new Russian-language IS media wing -- Furat Media -- has emerged that appears to have taken on official, or at least semiofficial, status within IS's overall media operations.
IS currently produces official propaganda messages in Arabic, English, Kurdish, French, and Russian, according to Aaron Y. Zelin, an analyst with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
And though IS has not made any specific announcement declaring that Furat is an official IS media wing, Zelin says it is an "unofficial official account."
Furat has opened accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and the Russian social network VKontakte and maintains a website, Furat.info, through which it disseminates various forms of IS propaganda, including video messages by Russian-speaking militants and Arabic- and English-language videos dubbed into Russian.
Furat, whose name comes from the Arabic word for the Euphrates River, even has its own logo, a blue square with two white, wavy lines suggesting water.
Formalizing Operations
That Russian-speaking militants in Syria are disseminating propaganda is nothing new.
The various factions of militants -- including those fighting alongside IS as well as individual factions -- have had their own websites and social-media accounts almost since they first emerged in Syria in late 2012.
But as IS's Russian-speaking faction has grown in prominence -- and in numbers -- it has transformed its media operations from piecemeal efforts by what appeared to be a handful of militants into an increasingly slick and semiprofessional operation.
The main precursor to Furat began life around early 2013 as FiSyria, a website run by a group of Chechen militants led by Umar al-Shishani, an ethnic Kist from Georgia's Pankisi Gorge. At first, FiSyria was effectively Shishani's personal site, offering news about battles he and his fellow Chechen militants were involved in.
But when Shishani moved on to bigger things -- he is now IS's military commander in Syria -- FiSyria changed, too.
After Shishani swore an oath of allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and moved over to IS with a group of militants in late 2013, FiSyria went with him and became a Russian-language IS propaganda website.
Now, FiSyria redirects to Furat's website.
Furat also seems to have swallowed another IS media group, ShamToday, which was previously active on Russian social media and which was run by a group of North Caucasian militants.
Increased Output
Furat has significantly increased the volume of IS propaganda available to Russian-speakers, primarily by publishing existing IS videos with Russian subtitles.
But to do this, the group will have had to recruit additional "staff" who have a good enough understanding of spoken Arabic to allow them to translate the videos into Russian.
Clues of how IS's Russian-language media operations work can be found on social media, where Russian-speaking militants have posted photographs of IS media offices.
x
The Islamic State militant, though to be from Kazakhstan, who is reportedly behind the social-media account "Artyom."
A Kazakh IS militant who goes by the name Artyom posted a photograph of what he said was an "IS Media Center" on July 1. The photograph shows Artyom and another militant sitting in an office with laptops and cellphones.
Not Just Chechens
The presence of Artyom, who is based with a Russian-speaking IS contingent in Mosul, in an IS "media center" is another sign that IS's Russian-language propaganda efforts are changing and growing.
In the past, Russian-speaking IS propaganda efforts appeared to be run primarily by and for North Caucasian militants.
Recently, however, Central Asians have also been photographed undertaking IS propaganda work.
Prominent Tajik militant Abu Daoud (real name Parviz Saidrakhmonov) has been photographed several times working in an IS "Media Center."
Saidrakhmonov, who is thought to have been killed, has been linked to several prominent Russian-speaking IS ideologues, including Daghestani preachers Akhmad Medinsky and Nadir Abu Khalid. Both Daghestanis are close to Abu Jihad, an ethnic Karachay who is Shishani's close confidante and who has been involved in IS propaganda efforts for many months -- and who is likely one of those behind Furat Media.
Recruitment And Retention
Furat's work has two main purposes.
First, it is dedicated to recruiting new Russian-speaking militants, both from the Russian Federation -- particularly the North Caucasus -- and from elsewhere in the former Soviet Union, especially from Central Asia.
Furat is also engaged in spreading IS messages to Russian-speaking militants who are already fighting alongside the group, both via social media and by creating and sending CDs containing Russian-subtitled IS propaganda videos to various Russian-speaking militant groups in IS-controlled territory.
A July 1 Facebook post included photographs of one batch of CDs with an explanation that these were for "brothers in the caliphate," the term used by IS for territory under its control.
x
Screen grab of the Uzbek IS militant Abu Hussein al-Uzbeki on a video with the Furat Media logo.
By translating Arabic-language material into Russian, Furat is able to ensure that all Russian-speakers in IS-controlled territories have access to the same messages and ideology as their Arabic-speaking counterparts. So, too, can potential recruits back home in the Russian Federation or Central Asia.
Furat is also playing an important role in building ideological bridges between militants in Syria and Iraq, and those who are still in the North Caucasus.
It was Furat which announced that IS had declared the establishment of a "province" in the North Caucasus. The propaganda wing also issued a professionally produced video, Unity Of The Mujahideen (Jihad Fighters) Of The Caucasus, which included interviews with Russian-speaking militants in Iraq and Syria who praised the pledges of allegiance to IS by North Caucasians.
Resilience
Although there have been efforts by social-media websites like Facebook and Twitter to crack down on pro-IS accounts, Furat has so far been resilient.
Furat's Facebook account has already been banned, but the group opened a new one -- this time a closed group -- on July 1. By July 2, the group had 87 members.
And while several countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan, have banned pro-IS and other Islamist websites, they have been less successful in blocking social media.
A group of websites listed by the Tajik Interior Ministry on July 2 as being banned does not include Furat Media's site or its social-media accounts.
Read the whole story
· · · · · ·
Next Page of Stories
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Obama Heads to Pentagon for Meetings on Islamic State
President Barack Obama is making a rare visit to the Pentagon to get an update from military leaders on the campaign against the Islamic State.
Obama's meetings follow a wave of weekend airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition in eastern Syria. The coalition says it was one of the most sustained aerial operations carried out in Syria to date.
The president has insisted he will not send U.S. troops into combat to fight the Islamic State in Iraq or Syria. However, he has acknowledged that the U.S. lacks a "complete strategy" for training Iraqi troops to carry out ground missions.
Efforts to train Syrian rebels are also sputtering. Fewer than 100 rebels are being trained by the U.S., far less than the goal of producing 5,400 fighters a year.
President Barack Obama is making a rare visit to the Pentagon to get an update from military leaders on the campaign against the Islamic State.
Obama's meetings follow a wave of weekend airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition in eastern Syria. The coalition says it was one of the most sustained aerial operations carried out in Syria to date.
The president has insisted he will not send U.S. troops into combat to fight the Islamic State in Iraq or Syria. However, he has acknowledged that the U.S. lacks a "complete strategy" for training Iraqi troops to carry out ground missions.
Efforts to train Syrian rebels are also sputtering. Fewer than 100 rebels are being trained by the U.S., far less than the goal of producing 5,400 fighters a year.
Iraq warplane accidentally bombs Baghdad, killing seven
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