Looking Back at Operation Tomadachi: The Key Role for the Japanese Self Defense Force

02/19/2013
2013-02-19 When the brutal Tsunami hit Japan in 2011, the devastation was significant.  The threat from leakage of the nuclear plants was ever-present.  The challenge of restoring Japan in the face of significant damage was a daunting one. Earlier we have looked at the challenge of shaping resilient organizations and the…

F-22 Pilot Helps Honor Fallen Solider

02/04/2013
2013-02-04 In a moving story posted on The Huntington Post, a reporter provides a moving story of a F-22 pilot helping a young man honor his father a fallen American solider. Zoe Mintz writes (excerpts follow): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/01/pilot-brian-baldwin-delivers-letter_n_2600241.html [caption id="attachment_50508" align="alignnone" width="199"] Son of Fallen Soldier With His Letter for Dad.…

Britain and the EU: At the Edge?

02/03/2013
2013-02-03 By Dr. Harald Malmgren We speculated months ago that the UK government would not be able to yield authority over the London financial market to the proposed new bank and financial market supervisory entity to be established in the ECB or in a Continental European city. The continuing search…

China’s New Foreign-Policy Team

02/01/2013
2013-02-01 by Richard Weitz Although China’s foreign policy decision-making process remains highly centralized, over time the number of actors who influence these decisions has grown. The majority of China’s foreign policy decisions still lie in the hands of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee -- the most powerful decision-making body in…

Commander’s Perspectives on the Pacific Challenges: Shaping an Effective 21st Century Force

02/01/2013
2013-02-01 by Robbin Laird At Second Line of Defense, we have conducted a number of interviews with Commander’s with special roles in the Pacific.  In this article, we want to bring together some of those insights into a more comprehensive look at the challenges as seen by the Commander’s who are…