Georgetown Security Law Brief

NATO says missile shield plans proceed despite Russian concerns

02/04/12: The San Francisco Chronicle reports that NATO leaders have downplayed Moscow's fears that a new Europe-based missile defense system represents a threat to Russia, and vowed to move ahead with it. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Saturday that the alliance expects to have first elements of the defense system up and running by its summit in Chicago in May, and that it would continue to work on getting Russia on board with the plan. "We will continue to develop a NATO missile defense system because we feel a strong responsibility to protect our populations effectively against the missile threat," he said.

Top security and defense officials meet in Munich

02/03/12: The Boston Globe reports that the world's top security and defense officials are gathering in Munich, with uncertainty over the future of the Middle East and the implications of the financial crisis in Europe looming large. The Munich Security Conference begins Friday with officials from more than 70 countries expected to include US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. It comes as Western diplomats try to overcome Russian objections to a UN Security Council resolution aimed at halting the violence in Syria.

Four Russian diplomats leave Canada as spy case heats up

01/20/12: The New York Times reports that Four Russian diplomats have left Canada just days after a naval intelligence officer was charged with passing government secrets to a “foreign entity.” The four men, who were based at the Russian Embassy in Ottawa, disappeared at some point on Thursday from an online database of accredited diplomats compiled by Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs. A note from the department indicates that the online registry is updated daily. But the Russian Foreign Ministry, in a Twitter message, denied numerous reports in the Canadian news media that the men were expelled by Canada for their involvement with Sub-Lieutenant Jeffrey Paul Delisle, who was charged last weekend with passing government secrets over the last four and a half years.

Russia assails US over Guantanamo prison

01/15/12: The Miami Herald reports that Russia's Foreign Ministry has accused the US of breaking international law by keeping terror suspects in indefinite custody without trial at the Guantanamo Bay prison. In a statement posted on its website Sunday, the ministry said the prison represents a "flagrant violation of international law." The Foreign Ministry also criticized the NDAA, signed into law by President Obama on December 31, which includes a provision allowing indefinite military detention without trial. The ministry claimed the act contradicts US obligations under international humanitarian law.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/15/2590886/russia-assails-us-over-guantanamo.html#storylink=cpy

Cyprus says detained Russian ship didn’t violate Syria arms embargo

01/11/12: Bloomberg News reports that a Russian-owned ship carrying munitions, which was detained by Cyprus authorities yesterday while en route to Syria, didn’t violate the European Union’s arms embargo against Syria, Cyprus’s foregin ministry said. Westberg Ltd., the ship’s St. Petersburg-based owner, decided to change its destination, after which it was allowed to put into Limassol for refueling. It was permitted to keep its cargo, government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said earlier.

Commentary: End is nigh for Russia’s ‘reset’ with US

01/02/12: The Financial Times reports that almost as soon as Russia and the US declared a “reset” in their relations in 2009, there were warnings that the thaw was already over. This time, however, it seems the end really is nigh. With the almost assured return of Vladimir Putin to the Russian presidency in March elections, and the outbreak of street protests against election fraud in Moscow and other Russian cities in December, US politicians are distancing themselves from the soft line on Russia peddled by the White House for two and a half years.

Russia says nuclear submarine fire has been doused, no radiation leak

12/30/11: The Washington Post reports that firefighters extinguished a massive fire aboard a docked Russian nuclear submarine Friday as some crew members remained inside, officials said, giving assurances that there was no radiation leak and the vessel’s nuclear-tipped missiles were not on board. Military prosecutors have launched an investigation into whether safety regulations were breached. President Dmitry Medvedev summoned top Cabinet officials to report on the situation and demanded punishment for anyone found responsible.

Russia slams US for its human rights record

12/28/11: The Miami Herald reports that Russia's Foreign Ministry has attacked the US human rights record in a report on injustice and violations around the globe. In the paper published on Wednesday, Moscow criticized President Barack Obama for "legalizing indefinite and extrajudicial custody and the return of court-martials." In its first-ever report on breaches of human rights abroad, Russia focused on EU nations, Canada and Georgia, but the longest section of the report highlights violations in the US.

Ex-Soviet states aid US transit as Pakistan relations deteriorate

12/22/11: The Washington Times reports that the United States is increasingly relying on three transit routes snaking through Central Asia, Russia and the Caucuses to ship nonmilitary supplies and fuel into Afghanistan as the deteriorating relationship between Washington and Pakistan closes off border crossings, according to a Senate report obtained by the Associated Press. Use of the Northern Distribution Network to supply US and coalition forces has been crucial in the war against terrorism, and its role underscores the political and strategic importance of the Central Asian nations on the front lines of the conflict.

Putin accuses Clinton of instigating Russia’s protests

12/08/11: The New York Times reports that Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin on Thursday accused Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of instigating protests over the results of Russia’s parliamentary elections by baselessly criticizing the vote as “dishonest and unfair” and he warned that Russia needed to protect against “interference” by foreign governments in its internal affairs. “I looked at the first reaction of our US partners,” Mr. Putin said in remarks to political allies. “The first thing that the secretary of state did was say that they were not honest and not fair, but she had not even yet received the material from the observers.”