The Asian Cold War has a space race, and India is about to take the lead

The Asian Cold War has a space race, and India is about to take the lead

The United States and Russia have a long and illustrious history of competition that is best summed up as “war-adjacent.”  For decades, we competed with one another in battles of influence, economics, and even other nations’ armies, but when we think back to the Cold War, it’s hard not to think of the space race.  […]

What were the CIA’s C-130 aircraft doing over East Asia?

What were the CIA’s C-130 aircraft doing over East Asia?

As I discussed in my last article on a case of gonorrhea that disrupted an unspecified CIA covert project, the CIA announced in a press release on January 17, 2017, that it had made available online more than 12 million pages of previously declassified CREST documents. CREST stands for “CIA Records Search Tool,” which is a stand-alone database […]

China and India up defense spending, spurring concerns about an Asian arms race

China and India up defense spending, spurring concerns about an Asian arms race

Tensions in the South China Sea have been high in recent years, due in large part to territorial disputes between Asian nations over the ocean waterways in the region.  China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines all have contradictory jurisdictional claims in the area, driven by military posturing and the possibility of massive oil […]

U.S. admiral warns Asia-Pacific may be next front in ISIS fight

U.S. admiral warns Asia-Pacific may be next front in ISIS fight

As the U.S. launches Operation Odyssey Lightning against the Islamic State group in Libya, a fourth front in the war against the brutal militant group, U.S. commanders are casting a wary eye on a possible fifth front: the Asia-Pacific. The U.S. is launching strikes in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and now Libya, but military leaders and strategists are alarmed by […]

Secret Japanese Military Maps Could Open a New Window on Asia’s Past

Secret Japanese Military Maps Could Open a New Window on Asia’s Past

These maps were captured in the waning days of World War II as the U.S. Army took control of Japan. American soldiers confiscated thousands of secret Japanese military maps and the plates used to print them, then shipped them to the United States for safekeeping. The maps covered much of Asia, and they went far […]

US Navy Pivots to Asia with Dual Aircraft Carriers

US Navy Pivots to Asia with Dual Aircraft Carriers

PHILLIPINE SEA (June 18, 2016) The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) and USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jake Greenberg / Released) The USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) and USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) strike groups commenced dual carrier flight operations in […]

South Asia at High Risk of Terrorism, Nepal Could Be Safe Heaven

South Asia at High Risk of Terrorism, Nepal Could Be Safe Heaven

On Thursday, the U.S. State Department released its Country reports on Terrorism. Country Reports on Terrorism is an annual report published by the United States Department of State. According to U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2015 is submitted in compliance with Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2656f (the “Act”), […]

Asia’s Military Spending Will Match U.S. Spending by 2020

Asia’s Military Spending Will Match U.S. Spending by 2020

The Asia-Pacific Region will spend $533 billion on defense annually by 2020. That’s very close to what the United States spends on defense, and a lot more than the region used to. Bloombergreports that China and countries squaring off against China are responsible for the unprecedented surge. The People’s Republic of China has been increasing defense […]

Russia Backs China’s Challenges to U.S. Over Asian Flashpoints

Russia Backs China’s Challenges to U.S. Over Asian Flashpoints

Russia offered support for China’s opposition to U.S. actions in two of Asia’s biggest security flash points amid mounting tensions on the Korean Peninsula and in the South China Sea. Foreign ministers from China and Russia expressed “grave concern” about the possible U.S. deployment of the Thaad anti-missile system in South Korea to defend against […]

The Most Dangerous Place on Earth: A nuclear Armageddon in the making in South Asia

The Most Dangerous Place on Earth: A nuclear Armageddon in the making in South Asia

Undoubtedly, for nearly two decades the most dangerous place on Earth has been the Indian-Pakistani border in Kashmir. It’s possible that a small spark from artillery and rocket exchanges across that border might — given the known military doctrines of the two nuclear-armed neighbors — lead inexorably to an all-out nuclear conflagration. In that case […]

Asian Women Are Being Trafficked Into Syria As Servants and Slaves

Asian Women Are Being Trafficked Into Syria As Servants and Slaves

  In recent months, multiple reports have surfaced of poor, rural women from Bangladesh and Nepal being trafficked into Syria to work as domestic servants—and sometimes as sex slaves. “They are innocent, uneducated women who come from the villages. They do not know anything about Syria and what is happening there,” Commander Khadaker Golam Sarowar […]

Cope Tiger Concludes In Southeast Asia

Editor’s Note: Exercise Cope Tiger, a trilateral large force employment exercise between Singapore, Thailand, and the United States, has come to a close. The purpose of the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF)-sponsored exercise is to reinforce current relationships by improving combined readiness and interoperability among military partners in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. This year’s iteration involved a […]