The PRC Expands its Global Presence: The African Case

03/08/2013
2013-03-08 By Richard Weitz In the past decade, Sino-African relations have increased in importance. Recent trends point to Chinese involvement in three areas of interest: economic policy, diplomacy, and military cooperation. Beijing’s policies with reference to sub-Saharan Africa reflect clear goals: 1)    expanding export markets (to Africa’s growing middle class) 2)   …

Can US Industry Turn Innovative Products Into Volume Production?

03/07/2013
2013-03-07 By Richard A. McCormack, [email protected] http://www.manufacturingnews.com Structural changes in U.S. industry over the past 30 years caused primarily by the financial sector's insatiable quest for profits have left "gaping holes" in the American system of scaling up new technologies to large-scale production, according to preliminary findings from a study…

China and African Peacekeeping

03/07/2013
2013-03-07 by Richard Weitz In the past decade, the PLA has increasingly participated in multilateral peacekeeping operations in Africa. Since 2000—when China deployed fewer than 100 peacekeepers—there has been nearly a twenty-fold increase in troops-on-the-ground. In recent years, China has provided more troops, police, and observer teams to UN peacekeeping…

The French Operation in Mali: Intervene, Leverage and Withdraw

03/04/2013
2013-03-04 By Murielle Delaporte Editor, French magazine “Soutien Logistique Défense”( http://www.sldmag.com) and co-founder, Second Line of Defense. *** This article is based on an interview with the French forces in Mali and lessons learned from recent French operations and military training. The entire French approach is embedded in both history and…

Let’s Not Limit Our Asymmetric Advantage

02/27/2013
2013-02-27 By Dave Deptula Recently there have been multiple commentaries questioning the efficacy, legality, and appropriateness of using remotely piloted aircraft (RPA)—also referred to inaccurately as “drones.”  Many of those who embrace constraining America’s RPA operations have formed their positions as a result of two fundamental areas of misunderstanding. One…

A Good Week for the Airbus Military Tanker

02/27/2013
2013-02-27 It is a good week for the new A330MRTT tanker. At the Australian airshow this week, the Royal Australian Air Force will highlight the tanker at the Avalon air show. [caption id="attachment_51168" align="alignnone" width="300"] The RAAF has 5 new tankers. Credit Photo: Airbus Military[/caption] They have also declared the…