“The Sky Is The Limit”: Renewing France’s Space Capabilities

01/21/2019
By Murielle Delaporte When the French minister of the armed forces, Florence Parly, visited the heart of space technology in Toulouse last September, she stressed how much space has become over the past years a key domain for national security. She noted that the Russian satellite Luch-Olymp had recently been…

Hi-Intensity Operations and Sustaining Self Reliance: Crafting a Strategic Capability

01/14/2019
On April 11, 2018, the Williams Foundation will hold its latest seminar on shaping 21st deterrence capabilities. The seminar will be held in Canberra, Australia from 8:00 AM - 3:30 PM at theNational Gallery of Australia, ACT. The seminar will focus on a key but neglected element of the strategic shift…

Has Russia Launched the Hypersonic Age?

01/02/2019
By Richard Weitz “This is a great New Year’s present for the country,” President Putin told senior Russian military and political leaders when he oversaw Russia’s successful test of its new Yu-71 Avangard Hypersonic Glider from the country’s National Defense Control Center at the end of December. According to the…

Combat Speed and Combined Arms Offensive Operations: General Monash and the Battle of Le Hamel

12/29/2018
By Robbin Laird Peter FitzSimmons has written a trilogy of books focused on Australia and the First World War. His latest book focuses specifically on an aspect of the First World War that is little known outside of experts or World War I buffs. But it is a story which…

The UK’s Minister of Defence and a Look Ahead with Regard to UK Defense

12/28/2018
Recently UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson provided a final update on the Modernising Defence Program to the House of Commons on December 18, 2018. What follows is his oral statement made to Commons: In July, I made a statement setting out headline conclusions from six months of work on the…

President Trump and the Middle East: What Next?

12/28/2018
By Richard Weitz Turkish President Erdoğan’s warning that he would soon send his military forces into the region of Syria where U.S. forces are operating was apparently the immediate factor prompting President Donald Trump’s decision to announce the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Syria. These Special Forces have been in…

The Indian Navy and the Geopolitics of the Indian Ocean

12/28/2018
By Vice Adm S Sinha (Retd) Thus far the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has been law abiding and stable maritime region permitting smooth flow of world trade. Sea Lanes of communication criss-cross the Indian Ocean after negotiating restricted passages, i.e., Straits of Hormuz, Gulf of Aden and Straits of Malacca.…