Category: Asia

The Manila Times says it received a copy of a Saudi dispatch to Filipino authorities indicating that plan has reached an “advanced stage.”

President Barack Obama called Tuesday for a halt to any new construction or militarization of Asia’s oceans and reaffirmed the U.S. right to operate freely in international areas. Speaking at the close of a meeting with Southeast Asian leaders in California, Obama called for a “halt to reclamation, new construction and militarization” of Asia’s oceans, […]

There is a positive side to the People’s Republic of China flexing its military muscle and eyeing controversial land and sea lanes in Southeast Asia: It has inspired a thawing and overall improvement of Vietnamese and Laotian government officials’ efforts to work with the U.S. in searching for, identifying, and assisting in the return of the […]

The National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) of Indonesia has released their final report on the December 2014 crash of Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ8501, which plunged into the Java Sea while enroute from Surabaya to Singapore-Changi International. As with any accident, this crash occurred after a series of cascading events took place, ultimately resulting in the […]

The National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) of Indonesia has released their final report on the December 2014 crash of Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ8501, which plunged into the Java Sea while enroute from Surabaya to Singapore-Changi International. As with any accident, this crash occurred after a series of cascading events took place, ultimately resulting in the […]

Note: This is part two of a series. You can read part one here. Sometime after midnight, Aug. 23, south of FOB 4 in Da Nang, sitting atop the highest of the five peaks that make up Marble Mountain, the nine men of ST Rattler were enjoying a quiet night. Assistant Team Leader Larry “Gambler” Trimble […]

In part one of this article series on Uzbekistan, I explored the changing security dynamic of Central Asia and the impact that the adjustments have had on both United States policy towards Uzbekistan and military modernization in the former Soviet republic. Uzbekistan’s recent policy pivots, to include an agreement on acquiring military weapons systems from […]

An analysis of Uzbekistan and its role in the subtle but important changes in the security dynamic of Central Asia, and why you should care about it.

Yesterday morning at 02:55 UTC, TransAsia Airways flight 235 crashed shortly after departing Songshan Airport (RCSS) in Taipei. The flight was destined for Kinmen Shang Yi Airport (RCBS). The current numbers being reported are 31 fatalities, 15 injured, and 12 missing. After watching the video footage that was caught, any survivors  of something so catastrophic is a […]

Early this morning, AirAsia executives confirmed search and rescue assets had located debris from QZ8501, and recovery operations were underway. The debris and other items were spotted in the Karimata Strait, approximately 110 miles southwest of Pangkalanbuun. Here is a recap of the initial incident: On 28 December at 00:24 UTC, an Indonesia AirAsia flight operating […]