Budget

A number of new programs being implemented by Washington and NATO partners may have a big impact on how Europe equips itself, and how and when they deploy their forces in the future.

For the first time in almost five years, the White House has released a new National Security Strategy that makes the case for American leadership in a world in which terrorist threats and Great Power politics share equal billing as national security threats.

French President François Hollande said on Wednesday the government will rethink a planned cut in military personnel due to the “exceptional situation,” as he gave a New Year’s address to the armed forces aboard the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier.

Northrop Grumman’s European chief executive, Andrew Tyler, has resorted to an unusual method to raise the level of debate on defense issues in the UK ahead of the planned strategic defense and security review (SDSR) planned for later this year: He purchased space on the Financial Times.com site to air his views.

Israeli military officers and experts are warning against funding freezes and other punitive acts against the Palestine Authority (PA) that they insist will jeopardize security coordination with Ramallah.

Russia’s new military doctrine calls for a more aggressive stance toward NATO, boosting presence in the Arctic and strengthening cooperation with India and China.

The continued shifting of the political sands in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority, greater industrial development among the Arabian Gulf states and an Israel always preparing for the next possible conflict will help shape 2015’s outlook in the Middle East.

Despite all of the talk in the Pentagon and among the defense intelligentsia in Washington about the “new normal”— the present era of battling Islamic extremists while putting out security and humanitarian brushfires across the globe — there has really never been a “normal” year when it comes to national security.

The future shape and utility of the British armed forces will be decided by the actions a new government takes over the course of 2015, the country’s top military officer said.