10/04/2011 - by Robbin Laird In the rush towards an election, a withdrawal from Afghanistan and budget cuts, which would undercut the ability of the US to replace its “geriatric forces, ” a key consideration is to ensure that the US can defend its economic interest in the period ahead. …
09/27/2011 - The Second Line of Defense team sat down with Rear Admiral Lee to discuss his district, which runs from New Jersey through North Carolina. We met with him shortly before Hurricane Irene hammered the East Coast and many of the areas affected were in his district. [caption id="attachment_24295"…
By Karsten Von Hoesslin, Senior Analyst, Risk Intelligence Strategic Insights, No. 32, May 2011 09/22/2011 - On 29 September 2010, the Panama flagged asphalt tanker ASPHALT VENTURE was hijacked by Somali pirates off the Tanzanian coast. On 15 April 2011, after 200 days of detention and an estimated US$3.2 to…
By Dr. Richard Weitz 09/19/2011 - Last week, I attended a Trilateral Relations in Asia Conference in Phuket, Thailand that examined the political, economic, and security-related interactions among China, India, and Pakistan. Perhaps the most interesting dynamics occur in the nuclear realm. [caption id="attachment_24142" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Triangular Dyanmic Among…
By Karsten Von Hoesslin, Senior Analyst, Risk Intelligence Strategic Insights, No. 30, February 2011 09/25/2011 Overview A considerable increase in reported incidents occurred between 2009 and 2010 with elevated levels of sophisticated piracy and armed sea robbery in the South China Sea, the Sulu Sea, and nearing the end of…
09/14/2011 - Captain Robinson Harris US Navy (Retired), now with Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors (MS2), provides an assessment of how the new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) might be used in an irregular warfare scenario. The case described was that of a notional crisis in Nigeria with the need to assist the…
By Tetsuo Kotani, Special Research Fellow, the Okazaki Institute, Tokyo Strategic Insights, No. 31, March 2011 09/08/2011 - Surrounded by the sea on all sides, Japan enjoys the benefits of the waters around it in the form of fishery and maritime trade with countries around the world. However, these waters…
09/08/2011 - The Second Line of Defense team visited the 11th USCG District in July 2011. The team included retired Rear Admiral Ed Gilbert who among other things was a former 11th USCG District commander. The current commander, Rear Admiral Joseph Castillo, provided a perspective of some of the key…
