2013-02-03 By Dr. Harald Malmgren We speculated months ago that the UK government would not be able to yield authority over the London financial market to the proposed new bank and financial market supervisory entity to be established in the ECB or in a Continental European city. The continuing search…
2013-02-01 by Richard Weitz Although China’s foreign policy decision-making process remains highly centralized, over time the number of actors who influence these decisions has grown. The majority of China’s foreign policy decisions still lie in the hands of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee -- the most powerful decision-making body in…
2013-02-01 by Robbin Laird At Second Line of Defense, we have conducted a number of interviews with Commander’s with special roles in the Pacific. In this article, we want to bring together some of those insights into a more comprehensive look at the challenges as seen by the Commander’s who are…
2013-02-01 By Richard Weitz Russia’s new (fourth) generation Project Mk 955 Borey-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), equipped with the new RSM-56 Bulava (NATO code name SS-NX-30) Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM), officially entered service with the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet this month. Christened the Yuri Dolgoruky, the ship was under…
2013-02-01 In a recent interview with the weekly newsmagazine, L’Express, Lt. General (Retired) Gaviard discussed France, Europe and the Mali crisis. Why are the European states reticent to engage with the French forces in the Serval operation? Historically, France always had a hard time convincing European countries to commit at…
2013-01-31 By Col. Bradley Weisz, Deputy Commander, Expeditionary Strike Group TWO, United States Fleet Forces Command, Little Creek, Virginia “I believe that our nation needs fast, austere and lethal expeditionary naval forces that can execute missions across the spectrum of conflict. The Navy-Marine Corps team is that key.” In 2008, the…
2013-01-31 by Robbin Laird Prior to discussing ways in which the USN and USMC team might innovate in the decade ahead to achieve a successful strategic re-design, we need to start with where we are and current thinking about the way ahead. Both the extant forces and existing thinking form…
2013-01-30 By Richard Weitz In his inaugural address, Ma stated that there would be “no reunification, no independence, and no use of force.” During the campaign, Ma emphasized the need to revive the Taiwanese economy and advocated expanding social and economic ties with the Chinese mainland, including restoring direct communications, postal,…
