The French Armed Forces encompass the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force and the Gendarmerie of the French Republic. The President of France heads the armed forces as Chief of the Armed Forces.
The Italian Armed Forces encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth branch of the armed forces, known as the Carabinieri, take on the role as the nation's military police and are also involved in missions and operations abroad as a combat force. Despite not being a branch of the armed forces, the Guardia di Finanza has military status and is organized along military lines. These five forces comprise a total of 341,250 men and women with the official status of active military personnel, of which 165,500 are in the Army, Navy and Air Force. The President of the Italian Republic heads the armed forces as the President of the High Council of Defence established by article 87 of the Constitution of Italy. According to article 78, the Parliament has the authority to declare a state of war and vest the necessary powers in the Government.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance among 28 European countries and 2 North American countries. Established in the aftermath of World War II, the organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty, signed 4 April 1949.
The Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, in Spanish: Fuerzas Armadas de la República Argentina, are controlled by the Commander-in-Chief and a civilian Minister of Defense. In addition to the Army, Navy and Air Force, there are two security forces, controlled by the Ministry of Security, which can be mobilized in occasion of an armed conflict: the National Gendarmerie, a gendarmerie used to guard borders and places of strategic importance; and the Naval Prefecture, a coast guard used to protect internal major rivers and maritime territory.
Ministro Pistarini International Airport, also known as Ezeiza International Airport owing to its location in the Ezeiza Partido in Greater Buenos Aires, is an international airport 22 kilometres (14 mi) south-southwest of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina. Covering 3,475 hectares it is one of two commercial airports serving Buenos Aires and its metropolitan area, along with Aeroparque Jorge Newbery. Pistarini Airport is the country's largest international airport by number of passengers handled—85% of international traffic—and is a hub for international flights of Aerolíneas Argentinas, which operates domestic services from the airport as well. It has been operated by Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 S.A. since 1998.
The aerial bombing of cities is an optional element of strategic bombing, which became widespread in warfare during World War I. The bombing of cities grew to a vast scale in World War II, and is still practiced today. The development of aerial bombardment marked an increased capacity of armed forces to deliver ordnance from the air against combatants, military bases, and factories, with a greatly reduced risk to its ground forces. The killing of civilians and non-combatants in bombed cities has variously been a deliberate goal of strategic bombing, or unavoidable collateral damage resulting from intent and technology. A number of multilateral efforts have been made to restrict the use of aerial bombardment so as to protect non-combatants.
The Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Bosnian war. Although SFOR was led by NATO, several non-NATO countries contributed troops. It was replaced by EUFOR Althea in December 2004.
Aerial supremacy is the degree of which a side in a conflict holds control of air power over opposing forces. There are levels of control of the air in warfare. Control of the air is the aerial equivalent of command of the sea.
The Western Bloc, also known as the Free Bloc, Capitalist Bloc and the American Bloc, was a coalition of the countries that were allied with the United States, a member of NATO, opposed the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact, and advocated anti-communism during the Cold War 1947-1991. The latter were referred to as the Eastern Bloc. The governments and the press of the Western Bloc were more inclined to refer to themselves as the Free World or the First World, whereas the Eastern Bloc was often called the "Communist World" or "Second World".
The NATO Medal is an international military decoration which is awarded to various militaries of the world under the authority of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is manufactured by Eekelers-Centini Intl, of Hemiksem, Belgium.
Major non-NATO ally (MNNA) is a designation given by the United States government to close allies that have strategic working relationships with the US Armed Forces but are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). While the status does not automatically include a mutual defense pact with the United States, it still confers a variety of military and financial advantages that otherwise are not obtainable by non-NATO countries.
ARA Rosales (P-42) is the second ship of the MEKO 140A16 Espora class of six corvettes built for the Argentine Navy. The ship is the fourth ship to bear the name of Colonel (Navy) Leonardo Rosales, who fought in the Argentine Navy during Argentina's war of independence and the Cisplatine War.
Argentina and the United States have maintained bilateral relations since the United States formally recognized the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, the predecessor to Argentina, on January 27, 1823.
Relations between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) started in 1992. Ukraine applied to begin a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) in 2008. Plans for NATO membership were shelved by Ukraine following the 2010 presidential election in which Viktor Yanukovych, who preferred to keep the country non-aligned, was elected President. Amid the Euromaidan unrest, Yanukovych fled Ukraine in February 2014. The interim Yatseniuk Government which came to power initially said, with reference to the country's non-aligned status, that it had no plans to join NATO. However, following the Russian military invasion in Ukraine and parliamentary elections in October 2014, the new government made joining NATO a priority. On 21 February 2019, the Constitution of Ukraine was amended, the norms on the strategic course of Ukraine for membership in the European Union and NATO are enshrined in the preamble of the Basic Law, three articles and transitional provisions.
Serbian-Spanish relations are foreign relations between Serbia and Spain. Both countries established diplomatic relations on October 14, 1916. Serbia has an embassy in Madrid. Spain has an embassy in Belgrade. Both countries are member states of the United Nations, Interpol, Council of Europe and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Spain is member state of the European Union since 1986 and Serbia is a candidate country since 2012 negotiating its future membership which Spain is strongly supporting. Spain is member state of NATO alliance while Serbia is a militarily neutral country with strong historical relations with the Non-Aligned Movement. In relation to third parties, both countries supported position of Argentina in its Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute with the United Kingdom in the past.
The Clan del Golfo, also known as Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia and formerly called Los Urabeños and Clan Úsuga, is a prominent Colombian neo-paramilitary group and currently the country's largest drug cartel. It is based in the Urabá region of Antioquia, and is involved in the Colombian armed conflict. Los Urabeños is one of the organizations that appeared after the demobilization of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia. In late 2011 Los Urabeños declared war on Los Rastrojos over the control of the drug trade in Medellín. Their main source of income is cocaine trafficking as they appear to be the largest distributors of cocaine in all of Colombia. As of late 2021, it is considered the most powerful criminal organization in Colombia, having some 3,000 members in the inner circle of the organization in 2016 with its current numbers unknown. Its rivals include the National Liberation Army or ELN.
Steven Michael Shepro is a former lieutenant general in the United States Air Force who served as the 21st deputy chairman of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Military Committee. He assisted the chairman's role as principal adviser to the NATO secretary general and senior military spokesman of the 29-nation alliance. He also advised the deputy secretary general, led coordination of nuclear, biological and chemical matters, and, in the chairman's absence, directed daily operations and the business of the Military Committee, NATO's highest military authority.
FARC dissidents, also known as Carlos Patino front, refers to a group, formerly part of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, who have refused to lay down their arms after the FARC-government peace treaty came into effect in 2016 or resumed their insurgency afterwards. In 2018, the dissidents numbered some 2,000 to 2,500 armed combatants with an unknown number of civilian militia supporting them. The FARC dissidents have become "an increasing headache" for the Colombian armed forces, as they have to fight them, the EPL, ELN and Clan del Golfo at the same time.
In December 2019, Iraq and the United States began discussing the partial withdrawal of American combat troops from Iraq. In January 2020, during massive protests and following an escalation of tensions between the United States and Iran, the Iraqi Council of Representatives passed a non-binding measure to "expel all foreign troops from their country," including American and Iranian troops. Following the vote, U.S. President Donald Trump initially refused to withdraw from Iraq, but began withdrawing forces in March.
