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REGIONAL SECURITY ISSUES
LATEST STATEMENTS, BRIEFINGS, AND HEARINGS

Regional Security

Compliance With Nonproliferation, Arms Limitation and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments
Paula A. DeSutter, Assistant Secretary for Verification, Compliance, and Implementation
Statement Before the United Nations' First Committee, New York City, October 16, 2008
Looking back over the last three years, I believe that we all can agree that there has been notable progress in both our collective appreciation of the relevance of compliance to peace and security and of the role that each of us can play in ensuring both our own compliance and encouraging the compliance of other states.
We seek to move toward consensus that compliance by states with their nonproliferation, arms limitation and disarmament treaties, agreements and commitments is critical to international peace, stability and security and is at the very foundation of the international system. This is reflected in, for example, the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and International Atomic Energy Agency, and the decisions of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. It also is reflected in the discussions of compliance, peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and withdrawal at the 2007 and 2008 Preparatory Conferences for the 2010 NPT Review Conference. And, it is reflected in the consensus report of the 16-nation UN Panel of Government Experts on “Verification in all its aspects, including the role of the United Nations in the field of verification.”
But, awareness of the importance of compliance, while essential, is but one necessary step. The next is to undertake to strengthen national, regional, and international capacities for effective verification, compliance, and enforcement of nonproliferation, arms limitation and disarmament obligations. This means helping countries who need and request help to implement their obligations. It also means helping countries who wish to strengthen their confidence in a regime to conduct their own compliance assessments, or develop regional capabilities, or to contribute more fully to international efforts. Five of the Verification Panel’s recommendations addressed steps to build and strengthen such capacities. The practical work that member states and regional organizations like the European Union (EU) have undertaken to provide support and assistance pursuant to UNSCR 1540 is a concrete manifestation that states take seriously the relevance to compliance of building the capacity to implement fully obligations.
http://www.state.gov/t/vci/rls/rm/111128.htm

Terrorism

Terrorist Assets Report Calendar Year 2007: Sixteenth Annual Report to Congress on Assets in the United States of Terrorist Countries and International Terrorism Program Designees
U.S. Department of the Treasury (Office of Foreign Assets Control), October 13th, 2008
The blocked asset amounts described below represent amounts frozen under U.S. sanctions programs that block all property and interests in property of designated parties. The term “interest” is broadly defined in OFAC’s sanctions regulations in Chapter V of Title 31 of the Code of Federal Regulations. An interest in property may be direct or indirect and include property interests short of full ownership. In many instances, the interest may be partial or contingent. Because the blocked assets discussed in this report include assets not actually owned by designated parties, they are described throughout as assets “relating to” a designated party. Many of the assets may be owned by or subject to claims by third parties.
OFAC regulations generally prohibit any form of judicial disposition of blocked property. However, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (the TRIA) includes a provision making blocked assets of a terrorist party available to satisfy certain judgments against terrorist parties, including judgments based on claims for which sovereign immunity of foreign states is waived bclaims for personal injury or death).
http://treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/reports/tar2007.pdf  (19 pages)

Kidnapping and Terror in the Contemporary Operational Environment
U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Intelligence Support Activity (via Federation of American Scientists , October 13th, 2008
Kidnapping and other forms of terrorist violence have developed into a significant form of asymmetric conflict, according to a new U.S. Army manual that describes the theory and practice of kidnapping with numerous case studies from recent years.
“This document promotes an improved understanding of terrorist objectives, motivation, and behaviors in the conduct of kidnapping,” the 168 page manual states.
http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/terrorism/sup6.pdf

Middle East

Iraq 

Iran

Updated: November 5, 2008