2014-04-29 At the conclusion of his latest visit to Asia, President Obama signed an agreement with the Philippines on defense cooperation. According to a VOA story: The deal, known as the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, will enable U.S. forces to train and conduct exercises with the Philippine military. At a…
2014-04-29 by Stephen Blank Even a year ago Russia seemingly played a limited role in the Middle East. Today Russia is vigorously advancing throughout the entire region. America’s widely, and sadly justifiably, perceived strategic retreat, confusion, and ineptitude only account for part of this transformation. While even Russian analysts admit that…
2014-04-29 In a piece published on Eurasianet.org, Joshuya Kucerna published a piece looking at the opportunities and challenges for the Russians in expanding their Black Sea Fleet. (Excerpts) Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled his intent to expand the country's Black Sea Fleet now that the previous restrictions to its size…
2014-04-28 by Harald Malmgren The hesitant, cautious, incremental responses of US policy towards Russia with regard to developments in Syria, Iran, and now Ukraine, and further Russian threats to Transniestria and other Russian “neighbors” is generating rethinking in Asian capitals. Notably, China’s PLA is ramping up its aggressive rhetoric about…
2014-04-28 by Robbin Laird With the breakup of the Soviet Union, a key challenge was the nuclear weapons on the territories of the former Soviet territories, which were now sovereign states. For Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, determining what do with Soviet weapons and how to address their role in the…
2014-04-27 With Afghan operations drawing down, it is important to remember how challenging the Afghan enivornment is and the impact of that operational environment has been on US and allied military equipment. A recent photo from Camp Bastion is a good reminder of the demanding Afghan environment. [caption id="attachment_64851" align="alignnone"…
2014-04-27 A Osprey CV-22B, drop U.S. Soldiers in a landing zone close to a urban training site on Maneuver Training Area, Baumholder, Germany 24 MAR. Certainly, the US Army should look to Osprey acquisition for at a minimum MEDEVAC missions. CreditL Training Support Activity Europe 4/24/14 Clearly, the advantage of…
04/27/2014: Introduction by Ed Timperlake Khe Sanh has an important place in the Vietnam War. For Marines, the epic battle is how they remember the name. In a remote mountain stronghold in 1968, six thousand US Marines awoke one January morning to find themselves surrounded by 20,000 enemy troops. Their only road…
