2013-04-14 The North Korean crisis reminds us that the role of Chinese arms exports and technology transfer are already globally significant. The involvement of China in the proliferation of nuclear technology to Pakistan, North Korea, and Iran is a key element in supporting triangular trade among the emergent nuclear club. As…
2013-04-14 The Chinese military or the PLA is often looked at as the odd man out of Chinese decision-making. But a recent Japanese study of Chinese decision-making suggests that the PLA is a key player in shaping evolving Chinese thinking and approaches to global reach. In effect, the PLA is a…
2013-04-13 By Richard McCormack The federal government’s R&D accounts are taking a big hit, as both the House and Senate have passed a budget for the remainder of the current fiscal year that includes “sequestration.” Total federal spending on both defense and non-defense R&D will decline to $130.9 billion in…
2013-04-12 by Robbin Laird As NATO shapes the transition strategy in Afghanistan, the airpower dimension is a central one. The geography and threat environment requires an ability to move forces throughout the country to deal with disparate threats. And it is crucial as well to impede the concentration of force…
2013-04-07 by Richard Weitz The Barack Obama administration’s missile defense policy presents both elements of change and continuity with the plans set out by the previous George W. Bush presidency. The main change is that the administration has deemphasized near-term efforts to develop and apply revolutionary BMD technologies and instead has…
2013-04-07 The rise of China in the last 20 years is a significant global event. The challenge for the next twenty is to understand how Chinese military power is intertwined with Chinese power projection and how the West and Asia will respond. But a key element is simply to understand…
2013-04-04 by Richard Weitz Under both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, the United States has employed variety of tools to address evolving missile threats. U.S. officials have engaged in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy in an effort to persuade North Korea and Iran to end their nuclear weapons programs…
2013-04-04 by Ed Timperlake Recent events centered in Washington have perfectly captured the difficulty of politically protecting America. No enemy should ever discount the skill, training and weapons of the American military. U.S. soldiers, sailors airman and marines and their leaders in the field, instinctually grasp exactly what General Patton…