Building on a three-decade partnership, Jordan and NATO marked a significant milestone in June 2025 by signing a bilateral legal agreement to establish a NATO Liaison Office (NLO) in Amman, Jordan. The agreement was signed by Ambassador Yousef Bataineh, head of mission of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to NATO, and Javier Colomina, the NATO secretary-general’s special representative for the Southern Neighborhood. “This agreement marks a major milestone in our strategic partnership with NATO,” Bataineh said. “The choice of Amman as the headquarters for NATO’s first office in the region reflects Jordan’s vital role in promoting peace, security and stability…
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The Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) Programme Office in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, delivered four video surveillance cameras to the Tajik border service for use on the country’s Panj district border with Afghanistan. The video equipment is part of Phase 3 of a European Union-funded project to stabilize Tajikistan’s southern border with Afghanistan. Col. Gen. Rajabali Rahmonali, commander of the Border Troops of the State Committee for National Security, emphasized the importance of the EU’s aid in strengthening the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border and border security throughout the region, and called for expansion of the program. Delivered in July 2025, the…
With the help of partner countries, Kuwait has been rebuilding its armed forces since regaining sovereignty and independence in February 1991. The United States has been a top partner of Kuwait, a major non-NATO ally. For example, in June 2025, the U.S. State Department approved a possible foreign military sale (FMS) to the government of Kuwait of the M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank System Sustainment Support and related equipment. The purchase amounts to $325 million, including spare parts and repair kits. The FMS program has generated $28 billion in ongoing sales between the U.S. and Kuwait, promising to improve Kuwait’s…
Modernizing its ballistic missile defenses, the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces (RSADF) has commissioned its first battery of the U.S.-made Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. In a commissioning ceremony at the Saudi Air Defense Forces Institute in Jeddah in July 2025, RSADF Commander Lt. Gen. Maziad bin Suleiman al-Amro presented the battery’s flag to the commanding officer of the newly formed unit. To operate the THAAD system, a team of Saudi officers completed a two-phased training course in the United States. The first phase consisted of 20 weeks of individual training at Fort Bliss, Texas. Each trainee had…
Terrorist attacks on schools, shopping centers and places of worship are a growing worldwide problem. To defend against violent extremists who target vulnerable civilians, security practitioners from more than 20 Turkmenistan government agencies participated in a two-day training held in the capital Ashgabat by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in April 2025. “The global nature of the threat of international terrorism has necessitated the unification of international efforts to combat it,” said Geldimyrat Haldurdyyev, head of Turkmenistan’s Law and International Relations Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This is “especially relevant against the backdrop of…
The Houthis continue to flout international law by stripping Yemeni people of their human rights and launching attacks on commercial shipping transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea. In July 2025, the Houthi terrorist group attacked and sank the Liberian-flagged Eternity C cargo ship in the Red Sea, killing four sailors and leaving 15 others missing. The Houthis took 11 surviving crew members hostage. They were released by the efforts of the Omani government in December 2025. The International Chamber of Shipping and the Baltic and International Maritime Council — a global shipping association representing shipowners, operators and…
In response to direct attacks from the Iranian regime against its neighbors in the Arabian Gulf and Levant, the United States Department of War is accelerating use of a defensive measure to protect regional partners and U.S. forces.The Department of War Rewards Program (DoWRP) offers money to people who provide timely, credible information to disrupt security threats. These rewards are payable directly to the person who submits the information, pending validation and review. Rewards can reach $5 million depending on the information’s quality.Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, is expanding the program because of recent hostilities in the…
The Chinese Communist Party has systematically expanded its partnership with the Iranian regime, leveraging economic agreements and dual-use technology transfers to enhance Tehran’s ballistic missile and space launch vehicle (SLV) capabilities. China’s culpable activities likely have also contributed to the deaths of civilians across the Middle East during the conflict that began in late February 2026. China’s military collusion with Iran, rooted in their 2021 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement, intensified in the year preceding military operations against the Iranian regime that began in February 2026, significantly shaping the regional security environment. United States experts are examining whether fragments from Iranian…
Saudi Arabia is a cornerstone of regional and global stability, based on its strategic location, leadership vision, economic strength, and its king’s role as Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. The Saudi Armed Forces fulfill this responsibility through credible deterrence, high readiness and enduring partnerships, guided by a clear commitment to professionalism and humanitarian principles. As part of a shared responsibility for regional and global security, Saudi Arabia remains committed to developing joint capabilities to enable close coordination to operate with allies and partners. Therefore future force integration, integrated deterrence and collective actions are essential to sustain stability and protect…
In a bustle of machine-gun fire, helicopter assaults and armored attacks, a company from the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF) Quick Reaction Force trained for the first time at one of the premier military training sites in the United States. The Jordanian troops completed their demanding combat training rotation in June 2025 at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk, Louisiana. It was the culmination of nearly a year of preparation for troops hand-selected from among the three battalions of the Jordanian Quick Reaction Force. Although U.S. Army troops regularly participate in Jordanian-hosted exercises such as Eager Lion, this…