Security and Defense

Long-time Korea observers Robert Carlin and Sieg Hecker claimed in an online article on January 11 this year that Kim Jong Un has made a strategic decision to go to war. Carlin and Hecker argue that Kim’s (tactical) decision...

In February 2024, Indonesia elected Prabowo Subianto as its next president. While he does not take office until October, speculation over whether and how Indonesia’s foreign policy might change is already swirling. Certainly, there have been indications that Prabowo...

In October 2023, the White House requested emergency supplemental appropriations for Fiscal Year 2024 to provide additional aid to Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific. After months of debate, the House of Representatives passed an emergency $8.1 billion supplemental appropriations bill to support Indo-Pacific...

Ask US policymakers what America’s North Korea policy goal is and they will probably tell you it is denuclearization. After six nuclear tests from 2006 to 2017, the likelihood Pyongyang will denuclearize is unrealistic. North Korea’s nuclear arsenal is...

In September 2023, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held its first ASEAN-only joint military exercise. Personnel from all ten of its member countries participated in five days of drills that practiced maritime patrols, search-and-rescue operations, and the...

Discussions of how to prevent a war over Taiwan tend to center on strengthening deterrence and convincing Beijing that it cannot conquer Taiwan at an acceptable cost. The underlying concern seems to be that China’s growing military and economic...

  Introduction The risk of a war over Taiwan is higher today than at any time in the past half-century. Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping has declared that Taiwan’s reunification with the mainland is an “inevitable requirement” for the...

In May 2022, a Chinese navy Type 815 electronic surveillance ship, the Haiwangxing, sailed close to the Harold E. Holt naval communication station in western Australia, a facility jointly operated by Australia and the United States. On the edge...

In June 2023, Japan’s sent its largest coast guard patrol ship, the Akitsushima, to the Philippines. There, it participated in trilateral exercises with its Philippine and American counterparts for the first time. Four months earlier, Tokyo prepared what amounted...

An American fighter jet or warship operating near Taiwan or in the South China Sea might soon be able to resupply at a nearby base in the Philippines. No longer would it need to fly or sail to far-off...