* The office opened just days ago by the Taliban in Qatar to start peace negotiations used several signs of a nation state, including floating the flag they used when they held power in Afghanistan. They agreed to lower their profile on Sunday, but that is a telling opening positioning vs. the current official government, less than a year before presidential elections. Symbols matter.
* Whether Afghanistan will settle down as a somewhat peaceful country remains an open question. How has Iraq fared since US troops left? Not so great, writes Kimberly Kagan from the Institute for the Study of War.
* According to Kommersant (via RIA Novosti), Russia is offering Antey-2500/S-300VM/SA-23 Gladiator missile as a replacement to the older S-300s that Russia refused to deliver in 2010 following UN sanctions. If Iran likes that outcome, they will lift the lawsuit they filed against Russia, and this will blow a big hole into the sanctions.
* The US Office Management and Budget wants to lower the statute cap on compensation costs, though that is not getting much traction in Congress. The GAO has a memo out on the likely effects of such changes.
* Katherine Hammack, the US Army Assistant Secretary for Installations, Energy and Environment, said she would soon issue a directive to encourage partnerships with the private sector to handle construction such as military housing. But note that Army lodging privatization (PAL) has run into serious criticism for elbowing aside local and veteran-owned businesses in favor of a foreign corporation.
* The US Navy’s Installations Command will eliminate 745 civilian positions throughout its shore enterprise in 7 Navy Regions across 20 states, the District of Columbia, the Island of Guam, and Italy, Greece and Cuba over the next 7 months.
* Rear Adm. (lower half) Cindy L. Jaynes will be assigned as program executive officer air anti-submarine warfare, Assault and Special Mission Programs (PEOA), which is currently headed by Rear Admiral Paul A. Grosklags. Jon T. Rymer has been nominated as the next Inspector General at the US Department of Defense. He’s been IG at the FDIC and acting IG at the SEC, but is also a Command Sergeant Major in the US Army Reserve.
* Deep ocean exploration, right from your web browser, courtesy of the US Navy’s Office of Naval Research and Dr. Robert Ballard.
* Richard Aboulafia of Teal Group discussed the global fighter market with Defense News in the video below. It’s the strongest market he’s seen in more than two decades, with exports as a share of the total market swinging widely over the years: