The U.S. and Global Security Review - Blog by Michael Novakhov

Reviews News Roundup and Notes: January 6, 2016 | Just Security Security No reason for Russia to view US as threat, says Pentagon - Washington - Muscat Daily NATO, U.S. Deny Posing Any Security Threat To Russia The Empty Threat of ‘Boots on the Ground’ - The New York Times Defining ‘Special Forces’ - The New York Times A Bold New Baltic Strategy for NATO | The National Interest Amid Russian Tensions, NATO Scrambled Jets 160 Times In 2015, Lithuania Says NATO's Nuclear Dilemma And The Turkey - Russia Crisis Intelligence: How Russia Put The XX To The U.S. Pentagon: Firefight continues at site of Afghan attack - Middle East - Stripes New FBI, ATF hires at the center of Obama's gun

M.N.: It would be logical to assume that the GRU's main competitor is the SVR, not the FSB, and in the absence of the strong and skillful leader of the GRU, who Sergun undoubtedly was ( he practically revived the organisation and made it as powerful as in "good old days", if not visibly more powerful), it is M. Fradkov 's and SVR 's positions that did get relatively strengthened. The possible implications of this hypothetical power and influence shifts is an important but separate question. I do not think that much is known about the details of the competition between these two organisations and their respective leaders.  As to the circumstances of Sergun's death, the version of "Stratfor's source which heard a report" is possible but probably should be treated as putative (these circumstances are really still unknown, at least publicly), until some firmer evidence surfaces and is established.  Curiously enough,  general Ivanov , who (as far a

"The Rape of Europe, that's how it smells like..." or the last whiff of success and warning from beyond the grave, "sweetly"...  German Police: New Year Assaults May Be Linked to Crime Ring - ABC News Cologne sex attacks: Germany's De Maiziere criticises police - BBC News Germans shaken by mass attacks on women in Cologne at New Year | Reuters Coordinated Attacks on Women in Cologne Were Unprecedented, Germany Says - NYTimes.com Germany stunned by rash of New Year's sex assaults | GlobalPost German mayor condemns New Year sex assaults as ‘intolerable’ | Fox News Packs of Men Sexually Assaulted Dozens in Germany on New Year’s Eve | TIME German women report string of sexual assaults by 'Arab and North African men' - Telegraph German city holds crisis meeting after New Year sex assaults - Europe - Appeal-Democrat Rape of Europa | myth   See also (old discussion in my blogs): Rape of Germany | Rape of Poland , etc.  ___

Accidents Austria: Dismembered woman’s head found in concrete block - The Washington Post There Were More Deaths From Deliberate Plane Crashes Than Accidental Ones in 2015 | TIME Deliberate Acts Cause More Airline Deaths Than Accidents - ABC News Eight People Injured When Running Bulls Festival Goes Badly Wrong - NBC News Soggy moggy: Kuli, the one-eyed surfing cat rides Hawaii's waves, in pictures - Telegraph Boy Found Safe After Car He Was Sleeping in Was Stolen - ABC News $1M accident costs sub captain his job - CNNPolitics.com US Obama on gun control: His emotional evolution - CNNPolitics.com US police killed 1,136 people in 2015. Will 2016 be any different? – video | Opinion | The Guardian Email: Billionaire