The Meshing of Beijing’s Goals With Putin’s War

03/21/2022
By Michael Shoebridge Beijing’s goals, set out in numerous speeches by Xi Jinping and in decisions and actions, are clear now. Number one remains Xi and the Chinese Communist Party staying in power indefinitely as rulers of China’s 1.4 billion people—Xi’s real ‘China dream’. Xi and his acolytes want three…

France and the Ukraine 2022 Crisis: France Sends 2nd SSBN to Sea

03/11/2022
By Pierre Tran Paris - The French fleet air arm is flying a daily patrol of two Rafale fighter jets and a Hawkeye spy plane over Romania and Bulgaria, part of a Nato enhanced Vigilance Activities (eVA) mission, a French navy officer said March 8. Those flights are from the…

Germany Re-Boots its Defense Efforts in the Middle of the Russian Ukraine Invasion

03/10/2022
By Robbin Laird Recently, I had a chance to talk again with Lt. General (Retired) Klaus-Peter Stieglitz about Germany and the government’s recent decision to change course on defense and security. I first had the opportunity to meet Lt. General (Retired) Klaus-Peter Stieglitz, a former German Air Chief, last Fall…

Lessons that Australia Should Learn from Conflict in Ukraine

03/09/2022
In this radio interview with our colleague John Blackburn, he discusses what Ukraine demonstrates to Australians as they work on a resilience-based defense effort. This March 5, 2022 interview was conducted on the show Australia Overnight. John Blackburn AO, Air Vice-Marshal (Ret’d) / Chairman of the Institute for Integrated Economic…

Time for a Competitive Germany

03/02/2022
By Dr. Andrew Denison The invasion has made it all too clear that Germany is too big, too rich, and too geo-strategically important to forgo influence, to opt out of the competition with Russia and China. European security urgently needs German leadership in providing military capabilities, developing geostrategy, and mobilizing…

Putting the Ukraine Crisis in a Broader Global Context

02/28/2022
By Robbin Laird Recently, I had a chance to discuss the Ukraine crisis and its broader global context with Dr. Paul Bracken. Bracken started the discussion by focusing on the structural change aspect of the crisis. “The mainstream media focuses on the personalistic aspects of this conflict. "It’s interesting how…

The Russian Invasion of Ukraine and Its Initial European Consequences

02/25/2022
By Pierre Tran Paris - “The fate of not only our state is being decided, but also what Europe will be like,” the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Feb. 24. Zelenskiy was addressing the nation on the day of the Russian early morning missile attacks on the East European…