Libre Magazine

Obama on Russia and Around

November 22, 2008 | Published in Columns, Features, Long Castling

Since he was elected as next President of the United States on the historical Tuesday, Obama scheduled several meetings with world leaders including President Medvedev of Russia. Two leaders, both relatively young and active, will talk various subjects on mutual disarmament over the next several years. Here are two issues on which Obama [...]

Long Castling: The Meaning of the Title

Written by Tom Hashimoto

August 28, 2008 | Published in Long Castling

It was a few days ago when I was offered the authorship for the fifth Libre column. The fifth column covers security issues and political strategies, which became a core of the international media due to the Russo-Georgian conflict. Then, I chose “Long Castling” as the title of the fifth column. “Castling” is a unique movement [...]

Beyond Right or Wrong: The Russian-Georgian Conflict

Written by Tom Hashimoto

August 11, 2008 | Published in Features, Long Castling

Beyond Right or Wrong: The Russian-Georgian Conflict

Given the freedom of speech, I write this article NOT from the ANTI-Russian perspective. I am aware that many civilians (2000 plus at the time of writing) have died in face of the Russian attacks. Some of my friends have fled Georgia, while some still stay in the country. At the moment, Tbilisi declared the [...]

Turkey in the 21st Century: Envisioning Beyond Strategic Importance

Written by Tom Hashimoto

June 20, 2008 | Published in Long Castling

On the 11th of June, I have an honor to attend an event with Dr. Ahmet Davutoglu, Chief Foreign Advisor to the Prime Minister of Turkey, held by Mr. Laxton MP (UK) and the Henry Jackson Society. Dr. Davutoglu, in his speech, emphasized the historical geography of Turkey as well as the future global vision [...]

The Year of 2008 for the Peoples Liberation Army (China)

Written by Tom Hashimoto

April 28, 2008 | Published in Long Castling

The year of 2008 began with full of events for the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) in China. First in January, the Navy renamed its refurbished carrier Varyag (former Russian carrier) to Shi Lang, the Chinese General who conducted the military operation in Taiwan in the late 17th century. Some of you may remember Varyag because [...]

NATO Expansion - The Impact of Ukrainian and Georgian Membership

Written by Tom Hashimoto

April 3, 2008 | Published in Long Castling

NATO has been expanding. Many of the former Soviet-bloc countries are currently supporting the seemingly-unilateral American operation in Iraq. Furthermore, President Bush recently emphasized the necessity of wider and greater NATO cooperation in Iraq and Afghanistan, in which many assumed that Bush hoped to include Ukraine and Georgia into NATO in the near future. Russia [...]

Putin and Kursk - Future of the Russian Navy

Written by Tom Hashimoto

March 22, 2008 | Published in Long Castling

Putin is no longer President of the Russian Federation, but he will be remembered as the leader of Russia at least for the next 20 years. Regardless how the Western media accuses him, Russians seem to love a strong leader who leads them from the misery of the post-Communist ruin. However, Putin had two big moments [...]