UNIPATH STAFF Located on the shores of the Dead Sea, Jordan’s King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre hosted in December 2022 the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership aimed at supporting Iraq and shoring up regional stability. High-level officials from Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Iran, France, the European Union and Iraq discussed five dossiers: situations in Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria; counterterrorism; food security; energy; and Iran’s nuclear deal. In his opening remarks, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani highlighted the importance of enhancing ties among nations of the Middle East. “We meet…
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UNIPATH STAFF Presidents Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan held a summit in Tashkent that climaxed with both countries agreeing to demarcate their 2,330-kilometer border. “The agreement fully completes the international legal registration of the state border of Kazakhstan on its southern borders,” President Tokayev said. The neighbors began negotiations on border delineation in 2003. Peaceful demarcation of the Uzbek-Kazakh border is an important milestone given that unresolved border demarcation in Central Asia, a holdover from the days of the Soviet Union, has led to tensions. In addition to the border agreement, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan cooperated on…
Under the banner “Kuwait’s Gate to Space,” the University of Kuwait celebrated launching Kuwait Sat-1, the country’s first satellite. In January 2023, Kuwait Sat-1 was sent into orbit aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in the United States. The solar-energy-powered satellite reached its orbit, disengaged from the rocket and spread its wings. A few hours later, Kuwait Sat-1 transmitted its first message to the University of Kuwait. The satellite will circle the Earth and provide high-resolution images to the university for analysis. They will help marine scientists study changes in the Arabian…
UNIPATH STAFF Reaffirming Egypt’s commitment to fight maritime crimes and safeguard international shipping routes, the Egyptian Navy assumed temporary command of Combined Task Force 153 (CTF 153) from December 2022 to June 2023. U.S. Navy Captain Robert Francis, who helped establish CTF 153 in April 2022, handed command to Egyptian Navy Rear Adm. Mahmoud Abdelsattar in a ceremony in Bahrain in which he commended Egypt’s navy. “I am incredibly proud of our efforts since launching this new task force only eight months ago … It is a true honor to hand over command to an incredibly strong regional maritime partner…
UNIPATH STAFF Building on years of fertile military cooperation, the U.S. and Kazakhstan could widen cooperation in the fields of economics, politics and diplomacy. Derek Chollet, adviser to the U.S. Department of State, described improving relations between the two countries in an interview with the Kazakh media. “Kazakhstan has been our partner for quite a long time in matters of nonproliferation, disarmament, peacekeeping, and repatriation of Kazakhstanis from Syria,” Chollet said. He added: “We see our cooperation growing beyond military cooperation. This is diplomatic, economic and political cooperation.” Chollet expressed the U.S. interest in fostering the C5+1 program, which includes…
UNIPATH STAFF To test joint interoperability with other Saudi relevant components, the Royal Saudi Naval Forces conducted in January 2023 the five-day naval exercise Tasaddi 5 at King Abdulaziz Naval Base in Jubail. Personnel from the Saudi Eastern Naval Fleet, Eastern Province border guard and the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., Aramco, took part in the joint exercise on the Arabian Gulf. The exercise consisted of classes, hypothetical scenarios, training on naval mines clearance, defending vital installations and oil fields, and handling unmanned surface vehicles and drones. “The exercise aimed to increase the readiness of participants, strengthen joint operations, raise levels…
GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS, SAUDI MINISTRY OF DEFENSE | Photos by Saudi armed forces Saudi Arabia convoyed 8,455 people to safety from Sudan in April and May of 2023, a humanitarian mission that highlighted the capabilities and preparedness of the Saudi Armed Forces. What began as a mission to evacuate Saudis stranded in Sudan at the outbreak of fighting between Sudanese factions became a larger operation to evacuate people from 110 different nationalities. Among the evacuees ferried from Port Sudan to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, were many citizens of the United States. Gen. Erik Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command,…
Unipath Staff. Photos by MAJ. JASON WELCH/U.S. ARMY CENTRAL “Yalla, yalla!” The cry goes out to the team of U.S. and United Arab Emirates combat engineers. “Let’s go!” Gunfire rips through the forest. Automatic weapons fire suppresses enemy fighters. The engineers confront a string of concertina wire blocking the infantry company’s advance. The soldiers rush through a cloud of green smoke, emplace Bangalore torpedoes and race back to safety. A fireball from the detonation blasts a 20-foot gap in the obstacle. The miliary engineers dash forward, marking a safe path for dozens of Emirati and U.S. troops to advance through…
UNIPATH STAFF | Photos by SGT. 1ST CLASS TERRA GATTI/U.S. ARMY NATIONAL GUARD The nation of Donovia, determined to destabilize its neighbor Gorgas and reassert regional control, embarks on a campaign of irregular warfare: conducting assassinations, cutting gas pipelines, financing proxy forces, fomenting refugee crises. But in the midst of the Donovian-engineered instability — which culminates with armed incursions across a river — seven nations coordinate forces to reestablish peace on the troubled border. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan and Tajikistan each provide a battalion to form Task Force Patriot under the joint command of their senior officers. Uzbekistan sends an…
MOAMMAR AL-ERYANI, MINISTER OF INFORMATION, CULTURE AND TOURISM, REPUBLIC OF YEMEN On July 5, 2023, U.S. Central Command reported it had thwarted an Iranian attempt to seize Bahamas- and Marshall Islands-flagged oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz. A day later, the U.S. 5th Fleet announced that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Navy (IRGC-N) had seized a merchant vessel in international waters near the Arabian Gulf and that the U.S. Navy had deployed ships in response. These incidents by the IRGC-N in international waters are not the first. Since 2021, Iran has targeted 20 commercial vessels in continuation of a pattern…