2018-01-06 On December 22, 2017, the Japanese government published their new defense budget on the MoD website. Japanese Defense Budget, 2018 With an enhanced threat from North Korea and China and the continuing challenges posed by Russia, the Japanese have been strengthening their perimeter defense and are looking to more…
2017-12-28 By Stephen Blank The Trump Administration’s new National Security Strategy (NSS) received a flood of public scrutiny even before it was announced. Not surprisingly this flood morphed into a tidal wave once it appeared. But virtually all of this commentary focused on the tone and major themes observers claimed…
On December 19, 2017, the United States and Canada said that nations from around the world would convene January 16 to show solidarity against North Korea's nuclear program. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, meeting in Ottawa, said the meeting would take place in…
2017-12-05 By Steven Blank Western governments and commentators have both neglected to analyze Russia’s overall strategic campaign in the Middle East, rather than primarily focusing on its actions in Syria. Focusing almost exclusively on Syria and/or on the issue of oil prices that Moscow is negotiating with OPEC and especially…
2017-12-05 By Robbin Laird During my last visit to Australia, I spent time with colleagues in the Australian government discussing various aspects of the strategic environment in flux and what the impact of such an environment has on Australian interests. The newly released Foreign Policy White Paper provides a public…
2017-12-16 By Danny Lam The United States seized on an opportunity co-host with Canada a meeting of the United Nations Command Sending States plus the Republic of Korea and Japan after the last DPRK missile test. The stated purpose of the meeting for the US was to “discuss how the…
2017-12-05 By The Australian Institute of International Affairs Australia’s first Foreign Policy White Paper in 14 years opens with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s declaration, “change, unprecedented in its scale and pace, is the tenor of our times”; and it is the changes in global power dynamics, international trade, security, technology…
2017-12-07 Airbus Defence and Space published a release today which highlighted the Bundeswehr mission in Africa, operating from a French base at Gao. The Heron has been part of that mission and has completed its first year of operations in Mali. According to the Press Release: The Heron 1 UAV system,…
