Issues On Call

UNITED STATES
Intelligence’s military role grows under Obama
When he moved into the White House in 2009, Barak Obama set out to limit the role of the intelligence services in U.S. military operations. But in practice he has done the exact opposite. The CIA and the Pentagon’s paramilitary units are active on all fronts, in Pakistan, Yemen and Libya, backing up standard military operations. This shift has profoundly changed the balance of power in the U.S. intelligence community...

FRANCE / ISRAEL
Sarkozy’s doublespeak on Israel
Nicolas Sarkozy agrees with the notion of Israel as a Jewish state in private, but in public he will never deviate from France’s official support of Israel as “two nations for two peoples”, according to a 2009 U.S. diplomatic cable from the U.S. embassy in Paris...

ISRAEL

Netanyahu’s Orthodox choice

The new head of the Shabak, Israel’s internal intelligence service, is a devout Orthodox Jew, prompting concern that the agency will be soft on extremist Jewish groups...

AFGHANISTAN / CENTRAL ASIA

USSOCOM’s Central Asian moves

Since the beginning of the year the U.S. Special Forces have been authorised to enter Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to track down Islamists active in Afghanistan...

SYRIA / TURKEY

Erdogan’s double-dealing in Syria

The rapprochement between Turkey and Syria that was initiated last year (IOL 617 ) may fall victim to the wave of anti-government demonstrations that have paralysed...

UKRAINE / UNITED STATES

Ivanyushenko turns to Sidley Austin

Yuriy Ivanyushenko, a trusted ally of Ukraine’s President Yanukovych, is the latest oligarch to turn to lawyers and consultants to help him obtain a U.S. visa...