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U.S. intelligence official touches upon Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during the open Hearing on “Current and Projected Threats to the United States”
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03 Feb 2010 07:34 ]
Washington. Isabel Levine – APA. “The unresolved conflicts of the Caucasus provide the most likely flashpoints in the Eurasia region”, Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair told the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence at the open Hearing on “Current and Projected Threats to the United States”, on February 2nd..
According to APA’s Washington correspondent during the hearing Mr. Blair touched upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well:
“Although there has been progress in the past year toward Turkey-Armenia rapprochement, this has affected the delicate relationship between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and increases the risk of a renewed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh” – he stated.
A top U.S. intelligence official says America’s relations with Russia could suffer as the United States seeks closer ties with Georgia and other former Soviet states.
“Moscow’s expanded military presence in and political-economic ties to Georgia’s separatist regions of South Ossetia and sporadic low-level violence increase the risk of miscalculation or overreaction leading to renewed fighting”, he said.
CIA Chief mentioned that president Dmitry Medvedev is viewing of Moscow’s former Soviet neighbors as a "zone of privileged interests" could undermine relations with Washington.
He added that, Moscow, moreover, has made it clear it expects to be consulted closely on missile defense plans and other European security issues.
On the whole, the CIA Chief stressed that, the strategic landscape has changed considerably for US interests over the past year.
“We see some improvements, but also several entrenched problems and slow progress in some areas for the foreseeable future. Several large-scale threats to fundamental US interests will require increased attention, and it is on one of these threats that I will focus our initial discussion. We continue to assess that global climate change will have wide-ranging implications for US national security interests over the next 20 years because it will aggravate existing world problems—such as poverty, social tensions, environmental degradation, ineffectual leadership, and weak political institutions—that threaten state stability”.
Speaking about Iran, Mr. Blair mentioned that, the Iranian regime continues to flout UN Security Council restrictions on its nuclear program. There is a real risk that its nuclear program will prompt other countries in the Middle East to pursue nuclear options.
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