2017-09-08 By Robbin Laird The Australian Defence Force has set a tough bar for itself – shaping an integrated force and crafting an ability to design such a force. This is a tough bar but one which they are trying to energize in part by leveraging their new platforms to…
2017-08-27 By Robbin Laird For me, having been at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, unanticipated events are a key part of being realistic about risks. What risks are we not focused upon that are anticipatable? What does the current bias of policy making and the politically correct definition of…
2017-08-29 By Robbin Laird During my recent visit to Australia, I had a chance to continue my discussion with Major General (Retired) Jim Molan. He is a frequent commentator in the press and on the media generally on defense issues and with the recently announced Trump policy on Afghanistan as…
2017-08-24 By Richard Weitz Although Sino-U.S. military ties have showed surprising residence in the phase of numerous China-U.S. security differences, they lag considerably behind Beijing’s defense relations with Moscow. During the last week of July, the Chinese and Russian navies conducted a week of joint drills in the Baltic Sea,…
2017-08-22 By Danny Lam Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich believing that he settled the Czechoslovakian problem, “Peace for our time”. Chamberlain earnestly believed that Hitler was like any other European statesman who is core concern is the survival of the Nazi German regime, and the rapid pace of…
2017-08-21 By Robbin Laird During recent conversations with Ross Babbage in the United States and then Australia, we discussed the dynamics of change in the global environment and the challenges posed to the liberal democracies by the illiberal powers. Ross is a well-known and well regarded Australian strategist with significant…
2017-08-10 As the Pentagon reforms its acquisition approach, the ability to mobilize assets and to support them as was well as to accelerate modernization are clear priorities. But missing from the discussion is the allied dimension in terms of accelerating US combat modernization. The shift from slo mo to preparing…
2017-07-30 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake The new Dunkirk movie is one of the best war movies in years. It does what film does best; put one into the shoes of the persons involved rather than providing a platform for lecturing the audience on the moral values of the…
