10/28/2011 by Richard Weitz When considering South Korea and the F-35 issue, it is important to keep in mind the transformed nature of the ROK-US alliance. Its most important function is still to help protect South Korea from external attack, but it has also evolved, and should continue to do…
10/27/2011 Dear Mr. Secretary: Your tour of Asia comes at a crucial time. It is important to re-enforce the perception of American support for the defense of South Korea and Japan and other allies in the region. This is particularly important in a period where some are suggesting reckless defense…
10/26/2011: As this rollout of a Pacific strategy for the United States in the Pacific has made clear, air power is not synonymous with the USAF. Airpower is crucial at every level of establishing presence and shaping the building blocks of scalability. Without aviation assets, the USCG cutters have very…
10/26/2011 By Richard Weitz One of the few points of division we encountered among Turkish government officials and analysts was their competing views regarding future political developments in Central Asia. One group believes that Central Asia was ripe for deep political change through its own version of the Arab Spring.…
10/26/2011 Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) crews started flight training on their first A330 MRTT with Airbus Military instructors at the Airbus Military Getafe facilities in Spain yesterday 25th October. This will allow the crews to qualify for Air Logistic Transport and Air-to-Air Refueling with pods and boom. Col Pilote…
10/26/2011 by Ed Timperlake Ever since the evacuation of the Chinese Nationalist Forces to Taiwan after their defeat on the mainland by Mao’s Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) has quested for a complete victory by establishing sovereignty over that island fortress. Taiwan is an island…
10/25/2011 - By Dr. Richard Weitz During our time in Turkey, a key issue of interest was getting an update on their relationship with Iran. Although we were in Turkey for only one week, it was evident that Turkey’s relationship with Iran is complex. The two countries cooperate in some…
10/25/2011 By Richard Weitz During a week-long study trip to Turkey earlier this month, I was in Ankara at the same time as a senior Iraqi government delegation. We had simultaneous meetings at the Foreign Ministry. The Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister had to send a replacement to our session since…
