A recent news report was headlined: “Lawmakers, business groups balk at trade deal with protectionist Japan.” A more accurate title would have been: “Protectionist U.S. lawmakers, special-interest groups balk at trade deal with Japan.” Over 40 Members of Congress recently wrote to President Obama to express concern about allowing Japan …
The Pentagon’s strategic shift to the Asia-Pacific has come under increasing scrutiny as conflicts continue in the Middle East, particularly in Israel. Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul McHale recently contributed to this debate at the annual El Pomar Conference in Colorado Springs, saying, “The Administration’s strategy fails because it …
The Obama Administration is granting legitimacy to Chinese and Russian claims that strengthening U.S. missile defenses are aggressive and instigate conflict. More recently, it has done so regarding plans to place a second missile defense radar in Japan to defend against North Korean missiles. At a recent joint press conference …
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in the midst of a 10-day tour of the Asia-Pacific. Certainly there are many things to be discussed over the week-and-a-half visit, but high on the Secretary’s agenda should be the brewing conflict over the South China Sea and assertion of American interests there, …
The year was 1979. America’s military had emerged from the Vietnam War earlier in the decade and was now facing sizable and significant budget cuts. Capt. Tom Shanahan, commanding officer of the USS Canisteo, had just returned from the Mediterranean Sea and was now leading an overhaul of his fleet …
The United States and Japan released a revised deployment plan for U.S. Marine Corps forces in the Pacific. It is an improvement over the 2006 Guam Agreement, but it still sacrifices alliance military capabilities for political expediency. The new plan is more flexible and operationally focused, since it maintains Marine …
