1914 Redux? Growing Asia-Pacific Tensions Demand New US Strategy

1914 Redux? Growing Asia-Pacific Tensions Demand New US Strategy
1914 Redux? Growing Asia-Pacific Tensions Demand New US Strategy

American Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is paying his first visit to Asia this week. Just before he left, Acting Assistant Secretary of State Susan Thornton told reporters the Trump Administration “will have its own formulation” of the Pacific pivot, or the rebalance to Asia declared by the Obama Administration. “Pivot, rebalance, etcetera — that was a word that was…

Will THAAD Deployment Roil Or Calm Troubled Pacific?

Will THAAD Deployment Roil Or Calm Troubled Pacific?
Will THAAD Deployment Roil Or Calm Troubled Pacific?

WASHINGTON: The deployment of improved US missile defenses to Korea, THAAD, comes at a time of growing disorder across the region. There is one constant in this equation but three major unknowns. The constant is the THAAD system itself, whose capabilities — almost six times the maximum range of current Patriot missile defenses and roughly five…

US Ships, Planes Challenge 22 Countries’ Claims — Not Just China’s

US Ships, Planes Challenge 22 Countries’ Claims — Not Just China’s
US Ships, Planes Challenge 22 Countries’ Claims — Not Just China’s

WASHINGTON: In 2016, the Defense Department flew aircraft or steamed ships through territories claimed by Albania, Brazil, Italy, Japan, Malta, and, well, China, according to the Pentagon’s annual report released today. So should Beijing be relieved it was not the sole focus of American Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPS) or should it feel slighted that it…

Lawmakers’ Letters Endorse McCain Plan To Reinforce Pacific, Assist Asian Allies

Lawmakers’ Letters Endorse McCain Plan To Reinforce Pacific, Assist Asian Allies
Lawmakers’ Letters Endorse McCain Plan To Reinforce Pacific, Assist Asian Allies

A bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives is urging Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to budget $1.5 billion a year to reinforce US forces in the Pacific to better support Asian allies, stiffening their spines against Chinese intimidation. Known as the Asia-Pacific Stability Initiative and endorsed by the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal, it’s a proposal…

Air Force Adds Pacific To F-35s’ Foreign Deployments

Air Force Adds Pacific To F-35s’ Foreign Deployments
Air Force Adds Pacific To F-35s’ Foreign Deployments

CLARIFIED: What MG Harris Really Meant CAPITOL HILL: The Air Force’s first operational squadron of F-35s will head to the Pacific, in addition to the European deployment recently departed Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James discussed in December. The news came in the form of one sentence today in the written testimony today of Maj. Gen. Jerry Harris, deputy…

Why Mattis Headed East: Time For China Strategy

Why Mattis Headed East: Time For China Strategy
Why Mattis Headed East: Time For China Strategy

Why is newly confirmed Defense Secretary Jim Mattis making his first overseas trip to the Western Pacific to confer with two of America’s key allies, Japan and South Korea? After all, both Mattis and Gen. Joe Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have declared Russia poses the greatest danger to the United States. But…

Army Must Be Ready For Multi-Domain Battle In Pacific ‘Tomorrow’

Army Must Be Ready For Multi-Domain Battle In Pacific ‘Tomorrow’
Army Must Be Ready For Multi-Domain Battle In Pacific ‘Tomorrow’

WASHINGTON: With one eye on China and another on North Korea, US Army Pacific is injecting cyber warfare and new joint tactics into every wargame it can. At least 30 forthcoming exercises — culminating in the massive RIMPAC 2018 — will train troops on aspects of Multi-Domain Battle, the land Army’s effort to extend its reach…

Bilden Would Be Least Experienced Navy Secretary Since 1980

Bilden Would Be Least Experienced Navy Secretary Since 1980
Bilden Would Be Least Experienced Navy Secretary Since 1980

CORRECTED: Bilden is least experienced, not 2nd to last WASHINGTON: Trump’s pick for Navy Secretary, Philip Bilden, has less relevant experience than any of his predecessors since 1980, Breaking Defense has found. To be precise, every Navy Secretary for 36 years has had significant prior experience in either government or the defense industry or both: Bilden…

Quarantine? What Are American Options for the South China Sea?

Quarantine? What Are American Options for the South China Sea?
Quarantine? What Are American Options for the South China Sea?

Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, who had expressed serious reservations about Rex Tillerson, President Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of State, said Sunday afternoon they would vote for him, pretty much assuring his elevation. The most combustible part of Tillerson’s testimony was about how to handle a rising China’s actions in the South and East…

Fear China Most, ‘Flip’ Russia, Beware Iran: CSBA

Fear China Most, ‘Flip’ Russia, Beware Iran: CSBA
Fear China Most, ‘Flip’ Russia, Beware Iran: CSBA

WASHINGTON: Wealth, population and thin-skinned nationalism make China the number one threat to the US-led world order, not Russia or Islamic terrorism, writes leading military strategist Andrew Krepinevich. That means the US must build up forward-deployed forces in the Western Pacific, he writes, if necessary at the expense of defending Europe. Russia’s oil-dependent economy and…

2017 Forecast: Trump Is The Navy’s Best Friend

2017 Forecast: Trump Is The Navy’s Best Friend
2017 Forecast: Trump Is The Navy’s Best Friend

WASHINGTON: Of the four armed services, the Navy seems set for the smoothest sailing under Donald Trump. The President-Elect’s pro-Russian sentiments cast doubt on the US Army’s main mission, even as he seeks to swell the service’s ranks. His personal intervention in programs like Air Force One and the F-35 has alarmed the Air Force.…

Trump, Kelly, & The Coast Guard: Exclusive Interview With Adm. Zukunft

Trump, Kelly, & The Coast Guard: Exclusive Interview With Adm. Zukunft
Trump, Kelly, & The Coast Guard: Exclusive Interview With Adm. Zukunft

With the election of Donald Trump as the next President of the United States and with Trump’s nomination of Gen. John Kelly for Secretary of Homeland Security, life is going to change for the US Coast Guard. Trump’s campaign focused intently on border security, asking a fundamental question: Why do we send thousands of troops…

Taiwan, Trump, & The Pacific Defense Grid: Towards Deterrence In Depth

Taiwan, Trump, & The Pacific Defense Grid: Towards Deterrence In Depth
Taiwan, Trump, & The Pacific Defense Grid: Towards Deterrence In Depth

The phone call between President-elect Trump and the President of Taiwan sent shock waves through the diplomatic community. But it is time to turn the page and include Taiwan in shaping a 21st century deterrence strategy for Pacific defense. The People’s Republic of China has made it clear that the regime is moving out into…

Best Of 2016: China Rising

Best Of 2016: China Rising
Best Of 2016: China Rising

That China is a growing threat — even an “enemy” — is one thing incoming president Donald Trump and the Washington national security establishment agree on. But just how dangerous is China’s increasing military strength and international assertiveness? What painful historical experiences drive Chinese thinking in ways a Westerner might not understand? And what’s the…