The June issue of OE Watch continues its broad coverage of foreign perspectives of the operational environment, as well as continuing special focus on foreign, security-related perspectives on the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the Eurasia section, three articles consider how countries in the region are adapting their military conscriptions to address the pandemic (“Alternate Medical Service for Russian Draftees”; “Conscription in the Caucasus during Coronavirus”; “Kazakhstan’s Substitute Draft to Combat Coronavirus”). The situation has also exacerbated disinformation narratives to divert blame (“Inside Russia: Spreading Virus Disinformation Narratives”). Meanwhile, China’s propaganda campaign to pre-empt accountability for its role in the pandemic’s spread (“Chinese Information on COVID-19 in the PLA”; “China’s COVID-19 ‘Letter Diplomacy'”) is taking place within broader Chinese information warfare (“Chinese Views of Public Opinion Warfare”). In Africa, many countries are struggling with the pandemic (“Mali Struggles to Fight Pandemic”; “The Impact of COVID-19 on African Security”) while the situation is impacting the EU’s operations there (“The EU Suspends Training Mission in Mali due to COVID-19”). And in Mexico, cartels are seizing the opportunity to fill a governance void by providing handouts (“Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) Distributes Essentials amid COVID-19 Pandemic”).
Also in OE Watch, some articles regarding various aspects of technology for current and future battlefields are highlighted (“Russian Electronic Warfare Leverages Artificial Intelligence”; “The Changing Character of War and the Growing Role of Electronic Warfare”; “China Looks to 6G to Drive Future Battlefield”; “Chinese Researchers Demonstrate Mobile Quantum Satellite Base Station”; “Domestic Drone Production in Saudi Arabia and the UAE”; “The Future of Turkey’s Drone Technology”; “Iran Improves its UAV Technology”).
A Russian perspective on the Arctic considers how Russia might maintain its leading position in the militarization of the Arctic amid the multitude of actors and international organizations in the region (“Towards a ‘System of Regional Security in the Arctic’: A Russian Perspective”), while another article looks at India’s interest in the Arctic (“Looking Beyond China: Asian Actors in the Russian Arctic (Part One)”).
Meanwhile, Turkey’s active military involvement in regional conflicts is seen by indigenous observers as stoking regional rivalries. (“Turkey’s Competing Interests with Gulf Nations”; “Turkey’s Involvement in Syria and Libya Stokes Regional Rivalry”; “Morocco and Tunisia Drawn into Middle East Geopolitical Competition in Libya”).
This issue of OE Watch features 62 articles covering various security challenges from the foreign perspective from over 30 different countries and regions around the globe. It can be found at FMSO’s website: https://community.apan.org/wg/tradoc-g2/fmso/. All of FMSO’s books, studies, and OE Watch issues are there.
This particular issue can be downloaded directly at https://community.apan.org/wg/tradoc-g2/fmso/m/oe-watch-past-issues/336632/download.
For more information on this product, please contact: Mr. Paul (Kent) Baumann, paul.k.baumann2.civ@mail.mil, Foreign Military Studies Office, Fort Leavenworth, KS
Distribution A: Approved for public release
