Direct Defense of Norway and the Role of NATO: The Norwegian MoD Explains to the Norwegian People

10/21/2018
Recently, the Norwegian Ministry of Defence created a web page and posted a video explaining to the Norwegian population about the coming Trident Juncture exercise and what the core focus of Norwegian defense unfolding in the current period. What follows is our translation (with apologies to our Norwegian friends) of…

Trident Juncture 2018: The Marines and the Initial Phase

10/21/2018
Around 90 US Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit landed at Keflavík on Wednesday (17 October 2018), marking the initial phase of NATO’s Exercise Trident Juncture 2018 in Iceland. The main phase of Trident Juncture will start in Norway on October 25. Arriving by MV-22 Osprey and CH-53 Sea…

Disaggregated Globalization: The Next Phase of Global Development

10/21/2018
by Kenneth Maxwell Dante's "Inferno", the 14th century epic poem, where Hell is nine concentric circles of torment located within the earth. It is the most appropriate analogy for the seriousness of the national dilemmas and the international challenges that confront us To start at the outer circle of Dante's…

Shaping Direct Defense of Northern Europe: 21st Century Challenges and Solutions

10/18/2018
By Robbin Laird A recent conference sponsored by our partner Risk Intelligence and hosted by the Atlantic Danish Atlantic Treaty Organization focused on “Threat Perception 2018: The Northern European Perspective.” Programme - Threat Perception In effect, the focus of the conference was the nature of the challenges and ways ahead…

The Way Ahead in Shipbuilding: The Perspective of Admiral (Retired) Nils Wang

10/16/2018
By Robbin Laird During my current visit to Denmark, I have a chance to meet with Admiral (Retired) Nils Wang, a dialogue partner for several years in my visits to the country. He has provided the readers of Second Line of Defense with many key insights not only with regard…

Japan and Australia: Working Their Strategic Dynamic

10/13/2018
We consider the evolution of the Australian-Japanese relationship as one of the most critical ones which can affect the reshaping of deterrent capabilities and relations in the Pacific. Both countries are pushing out their defense perimeters to deal with the expanded reach of the Chinese.  Both are introducing new capabilities,…

The Return of Direct Defense In Northern Europe

10/12/2018
By Robbin Laird October 11, 2018, the Danish Atlantic Treaty organization hosted a conference sponsored by our partner Risk Intelligence entitled, “Threat Perception 2018: The Northern European Perspective.” The hosts will provide a full report of the proceedings of the day. The conference provided a detailed look at the presentations…