The stage is set for significantly heightened tensions along China’s southern coast. China recently warned that Indian companies should not engage in oil exploration in Vietnamese waters claimed by China, and India rebuffed China’s implicit claim that those waters are Chinese territories. The Chinese message referred to portions of the South China Sea that are in dispute between China and Vietnam, with a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson stating, “Our consistent position is that we are opposed to any country engaging in oil and gas exploration and development activities in waters …
Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, current Chairman of ASEAN, has returned from the G-20 summit in Toronto, just in time to host the upcoming 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam. Dung has proven himself to be more of an active leader than prior ASEAN chairmen. This past year has been marked by a push for new projects such as the ASEAN Customs National Single Window Initiative, TPP agreements, and a call to meet the goal for regional integration by 2015. At the end …
In a report titled, “Long-Term Implications of the Fiscal Year 2010 Defense Budget,” the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) points out that this year’s Department of Defense (DoD) budget will exceed the real dollar equivalent of the Pentagon’s budget at the time of the defense build-up in the 1980s. Specifically, CBO calculates that this year’s defense budget will total $664 billion, compared to roughly $500 billion in 1985 — an increase of one-third. This comparison is no surprise to Congress or the American people because the U.S. is currently fighting two …
In a recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) tries to draw conclusions from the Vietnam War for our fight in Afghanistan. Some of his “lessons” are misguided and could put our troops in Afghanistan in greater harm’s way. Senator Kerry asserts that “we should not commit troops to the battlefield without a clear understanding of what we expect them to accomplish, how long it will take, and how we maintain the consent of the American people.” While it is necessary to review tactics and strategy, …
The AP reports today that “a request for new troops from the U.S. commander in Afghanistan may have to be revised now that there is growing uncertainty inside the Obama administration over whether to escalate the American commitment to the eight-year war.” General Stanley McChrystal is set to deliver his troop request, believed to be upwards of 40,000 additional troops, by the end of the week. It is now up to President Obama to decide if he will keep his promise to the American people when he committed to winning …
