Indonesia’s likely new president expected to keep balance between West and China: Analysts

Indonesia’s likely new president expected to keep balance between West and China: Analysts
Indonesia’s likely new president expected to keep balance between West and China: Analysts

“So looking at it from Beijing’s perspective, they would want to be keeping this really strong, pragmatic relationship,” Natalie Sambhi, an Australian expert on Indonesia’s national security, told Breaking Defense.

New Chinese 10-Dash map sparks furor across Indo-Pacific: Vietnam, India, Philippines, Malaysia

New Chinese 10-Dash map sparks furor across Indo-Pacific: Vietnam, India, Philippines, Malaysia
New Chinese 10-Dash map sparks furor across Indo-Pacific: Vietnam, India, Philippines, Malaysia

The new map sparked sharp reactions from India, Nepal, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan. The new document was released one week before the G-20 summit in India. President Xi Jinping was to attend but news reports now indicate he will not.

Intel Assessment: ‘High’ Chance Of International Conflict Over Water By 2040

Intel Assessment: ‘High’ Chance Of International Conflict Over Water By 2040
Intel Assessment: ‘High’ Chance Of International Conflict Over Water By 2040

From Asia to the Middle East, worries rise like flood waters over the future of water security.

US Warns Putting China On Law Of The Sea Panel Like ‘Hiring An Arsonist’

US Warns Putting China On Law Of The Sea Panel Like ‘Hiring An Arsonist’
US Warns Putting China On Law Of The Sea Panel Like ‘Hiring An Arsonist’

In rejecting Chinese claims to the South China Sea, the Trump administration is in the opening throes of a rhetorical offensive, promising more concrete moves

DoD Reworking Arms Sales To Curb Civilian Casualties & Counter China

DoD Reworking Arms Sales To Curb Civilian Casualties & Counter China
DoD Reworking Arms Sales To Curb Civilian Casualties & Counter China

A new system will retrain 20,000 DoD employees to work within the National Defense Strategy, while shifting focus to new areas of the world.

How US Allies Can Keep An Electronic Eye On China

How US Allies Can Keep An Electronic Eye On China
How US Allies Can Keep An Electronic Eye On China

The Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments has some new ideas for how even relatively poor allies can help keep the peace in the Pacific.

The Middle Kingdom Is Dead; Long Live A Global China

The Middle Kingdom Is Dead; Long Live A Global China
The Middle Kingdom Is Dead; Long Live A Global China

It’s one of the fundamental questions about China and its future place in the world: does the great civilization still view the world through the traditional lens of the Middle Kingdom, or does the world face a new China, unbound by many of the structures under which it has operated for most of the last…

Despite Trump’s Rhetoric, U.S. Defense Firms Pitch Moving Production To India

Despite Trump’s Rhetoric, U.S. Defense Firms Pitch Moving Production To India
Despite Trump’s Rhetoric, U.S. Defense Firms Pitch Moving Production To India

As big defense firms line up to pitch their fighter planes to India, the government of Narendra Modi is demanding they build in India, something that might be at odds with the Trumpian America First philosophy.

Mattis Makes New Plea To HASC For Russian Sanctions Relief

Mattis Makes New Plea To HASC For Russian Sanctions Relief
Mattis Makes New Plea To HASC For Russian Sanctions Relief

CAPITOL HILL: Defense Secretary James Mattis fired off a new letter to House Armed Services leadership on Tuesday, asking lawmakers again to vote in favor of waivers for certain countries Washington is trying to sway into its orbit, but who continue to do business with Russian defense firms. The letter was delivered to HASC chairman Rep.…

Trump Administration Warns Friends Against Russia Arms Deals

Trump Administration Warns Friends Against Russia Arms Deals
Trump Administration Warns Friends Against Russia Arms Deals

As some Gulf and Asian allies consider big purchases of Russia arms, the Senate is set to uphold a law signed by Trump that would slap sanctions on them for cozying up with Moscow.

Israel Deploying to Eastern Europe, Pacific for First Time Alongside U.S. Forces

Israel Deploying to Eastern Europe, Pacific for First Time Alongside U.S. Forces
Israel Deploying to Eastern Europe, Pacific for First Time Alongside U.S. Forces

The Trump Pentagon is undergoing a major shift to focus on great power competition. And it’s looking for allies to step up in places that might come as a surprise.

LCS In Pacific: Run Silent, Run Shallow

LCS In Pacific: Run Silent, Run Shallow
LCS In Pacific: Run Silent, Run Shallow

What good is a little ship in a big war on a big ocean? It can hide behind islands and in shallow waters, sniping at the enemy fleet — much like the PT boats of World War II or skirmishers in a Napoleonic army. That’s the US Navy’s newest argument for its much-criticized Littoral Combat…

After 4000 Years, China Eyes Truly Global Role

After 4000 Years, China Eyes Truly Global Role
After 4000 Years, China Eyes Truly Global Role

WASHINGTON: The president of China, seeming to cast aside the better part of four millennia of Chinese tradition, declared today that he sees “a new historic juncture in China’s development,” one that clearly calls for his country to flex its global muscles and change the rules that have guided the world since at least World War…

SecDef Mattis To Tap Former Army FAO For DASD South Asia

SecDef Mattis To Tap Former Army FAO For DASD South Asia
SecDef Mattis To Tap Former Army FAO For DASD South Asia

WASHINGTON: One of the more important national security jobs in this town, deputy assistant defense secretary for south and southeast asia, will be filled by a former Army officer with extensive foreign affairs and counterinsurgency experience, a well placed source tells us. Retired Col. Joe Felter, who now works at Stanford’s Hoover Institute, “led the…