This Joint Intelligence Bulletin from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI provides information on the devices used in the 15 April 2013 Boston Marathon explosions. Read more
The tempo of the violence in Syria continues to quicken as increasing amounts of weaponry are entering the country. The Syrian government is receiving substantial support from Iran, often in collaboration with the Lebanese Hizballah militia, and continues to take delivery of weapons from Russia. Read more
Review of terrorist activity across the world, but with a focus on the Middle East and Africa, during March 2012. Includes the announcement that Jordanian security officials have handed Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law and allegedly a core member of al-Qaeda, over to US custody. Read more
The Invisible Armies Insurgency Tracker presents a database of insurgencies from 1775 to 2012. The visualisation draws on existing databases of insurgencies, but it is designed to be more wide-ranging, more detailed and more accurate than any previous compendium. Read more
Risk updates and forecasts. Includes the beginning of the Taliban’s yearly Spring Offensive in Afghanistan and the deaths of at least 220 people in a major backlash by armed anti-government protesters in the central and northern provinces of Iraq. Read more
East Asia and the Pacific has experienced rapid economic and social changes during the past few decades, which have created considerable regulation challenges. Criminal enterprises have developed alongside legitimate commerce, creating contraband markets valued at approximately $90 billion. Read more
Open Briefing: On 15 April 2013, there were two explosions near the finishing line of the Boston Marathon, in Boston, MA, United States. This dossier is a collection of open source intelligence from the first 72 hours after the bombings. Read more
Risk updates and forecast. Includes the ongoing dockworkers strike at the Hong Kong International Terminal and the sophisticated cyber-attacks that targeted independent media outlets in Malaysia on 12 April. Read more
World military expenditure totalled $1.75 trillion in 2012, a fall of 0.5% in real terms since 2011. The fall – the first since 1998 – was driven by major spending cuts in the United States and Western and Central Europe, as well as in Australia, Canada and Japan. Read more
The debate surrounding US nuclear policy focuses too narrowly on reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the American arsenal toward zero. More important is preventing the use of nuclear weapons in whatever numbers they exist. Read more
Risk updates and forecasts. Includes the death of five people in sectarian clashes between Coptic Orthodox Christians and Muslims in the town of al-Khusus, Egypt, and the dissolution of the Malaysian parliament and the forthcoming closely contested general election. Read more
Open Briefing has published a briefing paper calling for for more assertive diplomacy from Israel and a change in it’s current posturing, particularly in relation to the Palestinians, Iran and erstwhile allies, such as Turkey. Read more
Open Briefing: Israel’s strategic neighbourhood is in flux and Netanyahu’s second government has responded with reactive cautiousness. However, this dynamic calls instead for more assertive diplomacy and therefore a change in Israel’s current posturing. Read more
Open Briefing: Budget cuts, overstretched ground forces and a range of ever-evolving security challenges are quickly making special operations forces a central strategy for many Western countries. Open Briefing recently carried out a scoping exercise on behalf of the Remote Control Project on the issue. Read more
Open Briefing: The increasing relevance of private military and security companies is related to the progressive privatisation of war in all of its new expressions. Open Briefing recently carried out a scoping exercise on behalf of the Remote Control Project on the issue. Read more
The premise of most Western thinking on counterinsurgency is that success depends on establishing a perception of legitimacy. However, legitimacy may rest more on the identity of who governs, rather than on how whoever governs governs. Read more
The US-led invasion of Iraq turned out to be a textbook case of flawed assumptions, wrong-headed intelligence, propaganda manipulation and ad hoc policymaking, as revealed in a National Security Archive briefing book of declassified documents. Read more
Risk updates and forecasts. Includes the series of blasts that killed over 50 people in Baghdad on the ten-year anniversary of the invasion and the US announcement it would engage in ‘authentic negotiations’ with North Korea if Pyongyang changed its behaviour. Read more
A new breed of organised crime groups is emerging in Europe. These groups are no longer defined by their nationality or specialisation but by an ability to operate on an international basis, with a business-like focus on maximising profit and minimising risk. Read more
The Syrian regime’s mass atrocities are complex, organised crimes requiring the support of third party ‘enablers’. Choking off the flow of arms, resources and money to Assad is a low-risk, nonviolent strategy that could help stem the bloodshed. Read more
