Combating 21st Century Authoritarian States: The Perspective of Ross Babbage

08/20/2018
By Robbin Laird During my current visit to Australia, I had a chance to continue my discussions with Ross Babbage about the challenges of dealing with 21st advanced authoritarian states. Recently, he co-authored a study entitled “ Countering Comprehensive Coercion: Competitive Strategies Against Authoritarian Political Warfare,” and with that as…

Chinese Military Power 2018: Building a Strategy to Counter a Modern Authoritarian State With a Clear Vision if Not a Clear Future

08/17/2018
By Robbin Laird The PRC is combing military with economic with political warfare means to expand its global reach. In the words of Ross Babbage, the PRC and Russia are focused on making the world safe for authoritarian states. https://sldinfo.com/2018/08/information-warfare-and-the-authoritarian-states-how-best-to-respond/ As the context within the Pacific changes, Australia, Japan and…

The Role of the Australian Army in Australia’ Indo-Pacific Strategy: A Work in Progress

08/16/2018
By Robbin Laird Australia is building an integrated force and working to extend the reach and range of that force. This is a core effort for the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force and clearly focused on dealing with challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. But what is…

The Perspective of the Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force: Shaping a Way Ahead

08/15/2018
By Air Marshal VK Jimmy Bhatia (Retd) Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, has confirmed that IAF has received bids from six global vendors in response to IAF’s Request for Information (RFI) for 110 modern combat jets, and that the induction of 36 Rafale jets already…

Information Warfare and the Authoritarian States: How Best to Respond?

08/05/2018
By Robbin Laird In a new study published by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, the authors, Thomas Mahnken, Ross Babbage, and Toshi Yoshihara, look at the challenge posed by the authoritarian states in shaping coercive political strategies and how the liberal democracies might respond to them. They conclude…

Adding to the Russian Tool Set: The Role of Russian “Private” Military Contractors

08/04/2018
By Stephen Blank Not a day passes without a fresh revelation of Russian probes against the West somewhere in the world. By now audiences are possibly accustomed to this fact but it remains difficult for elites, ot to mention ordinary citizens, to grasp that Moscow has been waging a war,…

Working with Turkey in Syria: Secretary Mattis Announces Joint Patrols

07/29/2018
According to a story published on VOA by Carla Babb, Secetary Mattirs announced that training for joint patrols with Turkey in Syria will start soon. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says equipment has landed at a base in Turkey to prepare Turkish troops for joint patrols with U.S. forces in…