Lt. Gen. Blaise Frawley discusses security challenges in the Arctic as part of his keynote address to the 2023 N3SP Fall Workshop. N3SP DERON R. JACKSON A Colorado-based education partnership is tackling the dilemma of how to lure more of the brightest minds to study national security issues and strategy. Thanks to a 2021 gift from the Anschutz Foundation, the cooperative effort was begun by the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and the United States Air Force Academy. Having set out to improve the interaction among their faculty and students and increase the…
The Watch
Acting Police Commissioner Rodney Adams praised the effectiveness of recent police operations in the Turks and Caicos Islands to help stem illegal smuggling, migration and gang violence. TURKS AND CAICOS POLICE THE WATCH STAFF The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) have turned the corner on a violent crime wave with the help of regional partners and forces targeting organized crime groups, police officials in the British Overseas Territory said at a year-end news conference. Acting Police Commissioner Rodney Adams cited a 30% drop in homicides and even greater reductions in robberies and firearm discharges compared with 2022. Adams acknowledged the…
North American Aerospace Defense Command F-16 fighter jets prepare to take off to intercept a “track of interest” aircraft as part of Amalgam Eagle 23, a live-fly air defense exercise. MICHAEL DOUGHERTY/U.S. AIR FORCE THE WATCH STAFF Seamlessly tracking common aerial threats along the U.S.-Mexican border. Picture this: A private plane en route from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Chihuahua, Chihuahua, goes quiet. The pilot fails to respond to repeated communications from air traffic control. U.S. authorities designate the plane a track of interest (TOI) and notify Mexican authorities. Both nations scramble aircraft to intercept the suspicious plane. An F-16…
A Finnish border crossing with Russia. Finland recently signed a Defense Cooperation Agreement with the U.S. allowing troops and material to be used on its soil. AFP/GETTY IMAGES THE WATCH STAFF NATO’s newest member, Finland, which shares a border with Russia, signed a bilateral defense cooperation agreement on December 18, 2023, with the United States that would let Washington send troops into the Nordic country to bolster its defense and store weapons and military equipment there. Under the deal, Finland will allow U.S. troops access to 15 military areas and facilities covering the entire Nordic nation all the way from…
Denmark and the U.S. signed a Defense Cooperation Agreement in December 2023, the latest move by a Nordic nation to strengthen military ties with Washington. AFP/GETTY IMAGES THE WATCH STAFF Denmark and the U.S. have agreed on a pact that would allow U.S. forces to operate on Danish soil for the next decade. The deal further strengthens Arctic alliances and helps strengthen the rules-based international order. The 10-year agreement was signed on December 21, 2023, following similar defense arrangements between the U.S., Finland and Sweden earlier that month. The Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA), which Denmark and the U.S. worked out…
Doug Fitzgerald, scenario manager for U.S. Southern Command, provides instruction during the Tradewinds 2024 Scenario Development Conference in December 2023. MAJ. TIFANI SUMMERS/U.S. ARMY SOUTH MAJ. TIFANI SUMMERS/U.S. ARMY SOUTH Military planners from Caribbean communities and partner nations met in December 2023 to script an exercise designed to improve interoperability and help them counter threats together. Planners from Barbados, Canada and the United States were part of the Tradewinds 2024 (TW24) Scenario Development Conference (SDC) in San Antonio, Texas, December 5-7.The three-day conference also included interagency partners from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Implementation Agency for Crime and Security, and Regional…
The Royal Canadian Navy’s first Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship, HMCS Harry DeWolf, pulls into Naval Station Norfolk in December 2021. The Royal Canadian Navy launched its fifth AOPS in December 2023. KRIS R. LINDSTROM/U.S. NAVY THE WATCH STAFF The Royal Canadian Navy’s latest Artic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) is in service, the fifth of six such vessels forming a central role in the country’s Arctic defense and sovereignty. Two months ahead of schedule, the 103-meter future HMCS Frédérick Rolette launched in December 2023 at the Halifax Shipyard. Final preparations and sea trials await before a handover to the…
FORUM Staff The People’s Republic of China (PRC) continues to face international criticism for violating the sovereignty of nations across the globe with its “overseas police service stations,” clandestine offices established in many cases without the approval or knowledge of countries that become their unsuspecting hosts. Rights advocates say the stations are bases from which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tracks and harasses dissidents living abroad. Those findings have sparked investigations from Europe to the Indo-Pacific to North America, where discoveries warranted criminal charges. Safeguard Defenders, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) based in Spain, revealed 102 of the police outposts in…
The Enduring Shield missile defense system, produced by U.S. defense contractor Dynetics, a subsidiary of Leidos, has successfully passed early tests. LEIDOS THE WATCH STAFF Enduring Shield, the ground-based mobile multi-launch missile and drone defense system, is on track as the $237 million project cleared its latest tests. U.S. defense firm Leidos announced December 19, 2023, that Enduring Shield successfully completed the risk reduction flight demonstration. The next stages of development will include the initial shipment of launchers. Enduring Shield utilized the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) interface to launch an AIM-9X missile interceptor during the demonstration, showcasing the capabilities…
DIÁLOGO AMERICAS The Iranian regime’s Spanish language news channel HispanTV, which portrays terrorism as “resistance” and is actively involved in incitement and disinformation campaigns in Latin America, is a growing cause for concern, U.S.-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) indicated in a late 2023 report. “Tehran maintains an international propaganda and disinformation campaign, which seeks to discredit Israel and the Jewish communities of the Diaspora, presenting them as villains,” Luis Fleischman, sociology and political sciences professor at Palm Beach State University in Florida, told Diálogo. HispanTV targets Spanish-speaking audiences worldwide and broadcasts its content through a variety of platforms, from…