2015-03-07 According to the February 2015, Japan Defense Focus published by the Japanese Ministry of Defence, there has be a significant increase in scrambles by the ASDF in 2014 compared to 2013. And the cause? No surprise here: incursions by the Russians and the Chinese. The ASDF scrambled 744 times…
03/05/2015: The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force(JMSDF) submarine JS Hakuryu (SS 503) arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Credit:Commander Submarine Forces Pacific:2/27/15 According to Wikipedia: The Sōryū-class submarines (16SS) are diesel-electric Attack submarines that entered service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force in 2009. The design is an evolution of the Oyashio class submarine, from which it can…
2015-02-23 Recently, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, the research arm of the German Social Democratic Party, sponsored a look at the future with regard to the European Union and the East. According to the foundation: The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has invited 20 experts from all over Europe to jointly develop four scenarios for relations between…
2015-02-19 As part of the overall pressure which Russia is putting upon Europe as part of the Ukrainian campaign, Russian bomber incursions have been stepped up over the past few months. This means that European air forces are having to exercise air interception missions on a more regular basis than…
2015-02-16 By Kenneth Maxwell The secrets of HSBC were painfully revealed last week by the Washington based "International Consortium of Investigative Reporters" (ICIJ). Working with an international team of 140 journalists in 45 countries, the leaked documentation, reveals how HSBC's (Suisse) Private Bank, helped wealthy customers conceal billions of dollars of assets: Over 100,000 accounts worth almost US$…
2015-02-13 Ian Armstrong Temple University Department of Political Science Roughly five years since the Obama Administration initiated the U.S. “pivot” to Asia, the circumstances have aligned themselves to make for significant headway in the region. In light of recent events, there is an opportunity to strengthen the bilateral relations of…
2015-02-10 In its first deployment outside of Spain, Spanish air defense forces deploy to Turkey. Spanish troops joined NATO’s Patriot anti-ballistic missile deployment in Adana, Turkey on Monday (26 January 2015), replacing a Dutch unit which had been stationed there since January 2013. For the past two years, NATO’s Patriot…
2015-02-06 Secretary Hagel participated in the recent NATO ministerial at NATO headquarters, and spoke about how he saw the challenges facing the Alliance. He highlighted the cross-cutting impact of three threats: Russian seizure of Crimea and threats to the North; terrorism at home in the NATO territories; and combating ISIL…
