China’s airstrip construction at Fiery Cross, Mischief, and Subi reefs, and more recently developments in the Paracel Islands, have dominated the South China Sea discussion. But capabilities being developed at its smaller Spratly Island outposts—Gaven, Hughes, Johnson South, and especially Cuarteron reefs—will prove equally important to Beijing’s long-term strategy. Read Here – CSIS
In his visit to the United States, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is expected to discuss with U.S. officials the hot-button issues of the South China Sea and the Korean Peninsula, both with direct relevance to China’s core interests. Read Here – Xinhua
In fact, Saudi Arabia is no state at all. There are two ways to describe it: as a political enterprise with a clever but ultimately unsustainable business model, or as an entity so corrupt as to resemble a vertically and horizontally integrated criminal organization. Either way, it can’t last. It’s past time U.S. decision-makers began […]
Downshifting is always painful, but politicians often make it more painful—and ultimately more destabilising—than it needs to be. That was certainly the case in the U.S. in the 1970s, and Chinese leaders would do well to learn from America’s experience. Read Here – The Atlantic
Saudi Arabia has not yet articulated its defence posture. But it does look as if it has taken the two-war doctrine as a starting point. Read Here – The National
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said his country is in a new Cold War with the U.S. and its allies, underscoring the tenuous level of trust that’s putting a day-old plan for a truce in Syria at risk. Read Here – Bloomberg Medvedev’s Speech in Munich
These new eight F-16s are not going to alter the military balance between India and Pakistan in a significant way, but they carry a lot of symbolism for Pakistan. The narrative built around F-16s allows Pakistani military to send a signal to the public of its modern capabilities while the politicians can showcase their ability […]
A strategically vital and reportedly oil rich 3,500,000-square-kilometre body of water, the South China Sea is ensconced between the Asian mainland and a whole host of east Asian island nations. And almost every country touched by it—China, The Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brunei, and Malaysia, among others—claim some right or the other over it, or at least over […]
Winston Churchill once famously remarked that Bolshevism must be “strangled in its crib.” In that same spirit, should the United States now seek to strangle China’s economy as a means of deterring its aggression? Read Here – The National Interest
Though conflict has not erupted into direct confrontation, there has been no shortage of proxy battles, beginning with the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. More recently, it has shaped the course of Syria’s civil war, in which Iran backs President Bashar al-Assad, who represents the Alawite sect of Shia Islam, while the Saudis are supporting […]
looking beyond borders 