By: Kathryn Hillegass, Columnist Photo Credit: Alamy, via The Telegraph (UK) China’s nearly four-decade long experiment with a one-child policy is ending, but its effects will continue to plague its economic and social landscape for generations to come. The problem with autocratic demographic policies is that it takes decades to recognize the unintended consequences of … Continue reading China: Aftermath of the One-Child Policy
Category: Indo-Pacific
What the South China Sea Teaches Us About Geopolitics
By: Michael Daly, Columnist Photo: Former United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates with now-President of China Xi Jinping (Credit: Wikimedia Commons) The fierce territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea (SCS) between China and five other littoral nations threaten to unravel the stability of the Asia-Pacific. In the past two years, the … Continue reading What the South China Sea Teaches Us About Geopolitics
Return of the Rising Sun? Japan’s New Security Legislation and its Bearing on US Interests
By: Matthew Short Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons Following approval by the Japanese Diet’s House of Councillors (the upper chamber), the national security bills proposed by the coalition government of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cleared their last hurdle to becoming law on September 18, 2015.[i] Their passage concludes a tumultuous summer of parliamentary wrangling, public … Continue reading Return of the Rising Sun? Japan’s New Security Legislation and its Bearing on US Interests
Seeking Legitimate Governance of the Korean Peninsula
The North and South Korean Border, Wikimedia Commons By Grace M. Kang, Guest Columnist North Korea's heinous crimes against humanity deserve the same sustained attention its nuclear weapons get. The regime’s systematic categorization and control of its citizens, with the lowest category condemned to political prison camps similar to those of the Nazi and Soviet … Continue reading Seeking Legitimate Governance of the Korean Peninsula
Cyber Warfare: Chinese and Russian Lessons For US Cyber Doctrine
Photo: Personnel at the USAF component of Cyber Command By Sebastian J. Bae, Columnist Cyber warfare invokes images of rogue hackers stealing information or computer viruses crippling nations. Unsurprisingly, US cyber doctrine emphasizes network security and the weaponization of software. Yet, the victors in cyberspace will not be the states with the best technology, but those … Continue reading Cyber Warfare: Chinese and Russian Lessons For US Cyber Doctrine
The AIIB: What Happens When the World Grows Weary of Waiting
Photo: AIIB Signing Conference, Photo Credit: Robert Bestani[1] By Brittney Farrar, Columnist Washington is so fixated on the subtle, yet continuous, shifting of global power from the West to the East that many US analysts have repeatedly predicted the imminent collapse of the Western-led world order. Was it the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the 2008 financial crisis, … Continue reading The AIIB: What Happens When the World Grows Weary of Waiting
Why Taiwan Won’t Be Able to Build An Effective All-Volunteer Force
Photo of Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense Seal, Wikimedia Commons By John Chen, Columnist Facing stagnant economic growth rates and a shrinking labor pool resulting from Taiwan’s persistently low birthrate,[1] Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced in 2009 that the Republic of China (ROC) Armed Forces would begin to turn away from conscription and … Continue reading Why Taiwan Won’t Be Able to Build An Effective All-Volunteer Force
Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable: Uncertainty, Brinksmanship, and Salami-slicing in East Asia
The largest of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands By John Chen, Columnist Though China has used salami tactics on its periphery over the last 40 years, most notably in the Paracel Islands in 1974, Johnson Reef in 1988, and Mischief Reef in 1995,[1] the rapidly quickening pace of China’s territorial expansion since 2009 has attracted increased attention … Continue reading Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable: Uncertainty, Brinksmanship, and Salami-slicing in East Asia
The Radicalization of South Asian Islam: Saudi Money and the Spread of Wahhabism
Shah Ahmad Shafi, one of the founders of Hefazat-e-Islam. Wikimedia Commons By Akhilesh Pillalamarri, Columnist A new school of Islam from Saudi Arabia is transforming South Asia’s religious landscape. Wahhabism, a fundamental Sunni school of Islam originating in Saudi Arabia, entered South Asia in the late 1970s. With public and private Saudi funding, Wahhabism has … Continue reading The Radicalization of South Asian Islam: Saudi Money and the Spread of Wahhabism
North Korea has crossed the cyber red line by combining cyberattacks with the threat of terrorism – and the United States must respond
A screenshot from the initial cyberattack against Sony. Source: techblogcorner.com By Jason Rivera All views and concepts expressed in this article originate solely with the author and do not represent the official positions or opinions of the US Army National Guard, or the US Department of Defense. On November 24, 2014, Sony Pictures first … Continue reading North Korea has crossed the cyber red line by combining cyberattacks with the threat of terrorism – and the United States must respond