As President Obama prepares to travel to Saudi Arabia for a regional summit, several of the rulers he will meet are contending with dramatic changes at home. Plunging oil prices and soaring deficits are compelling Gulf countries to upend their decades-old social contract. Read Here – The National Interest
Until now, India’s ability to balance conflicting interests and to engage all relevant parties in the Middle East has served it well, but it remains to be seen whether the renewed focus on the Gulf states will affect India’s traditional ties with Iran or further delay Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel. Read Here – Carnegie […]
When President Obama travels to Saudi Arabia later this month for a summit meeting with Gulf Arab leaders, he will need to reassure these longstanding American allies that the United States intends to stand by its friends in the increasingly turbulent Middle East. Read Here – Defense One
Rather than curing its economic woes and cementing its position as an economic superpower, or suffering a devastating collapse, China looks set to spend the next decade in genteel decline, much as Japan has since the 1990s. Read Here – Bloomberg
While understanding the details of Xi’s reforms is critical to assessing the direction of PLA modernisation going forward, it is also necessary to consider the broader implications of Xi’s apparent relationship with the military. Read Here – The National Interest
The U.S. is deploying nine aircraft and hundreds of U.S. troops and special operators to at least seven bases in the Philippines as part of a new, regular presence there, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced. Read Here – Stars and Stripes
“The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation must go hand in hand with a rich and powerful army. In order to achieve this goal, China must dare to strengthen its military force, not just its economy.” You might be forgiven for attributing this quote to China’s President Xi Jinping, who has made the China Dream the […]
As Chinese anti-satellite weapons reach ever higher, theU.S. military is getting serious about satellite constellations that can absorb combat damage and keep transmitting data. Read Here – Defense One
Armed only with a set of revolving teeth, the Tian Jing Hao, Asia’s largest dredger, has pulled off a stunning naval upset. Under the noses of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, this Chinese vessel led a civilian armada that built almost 3,000 acres of land atop submerged reefs in the Spratly Islands, altering a strategic balance that […]
The revelations about offshore accounts contained in the so-called Panama Papers are sensational, but they are unlikely to put an end to these tax havens favored by the world’s rich and powerful. Read Here – BloombergView
