India: Budding Blue-Water Navy Capabilities
India’s recent acquisition of the Russian-made aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya demonstrates its desire to increase its naval strength. Building a blue-water navy suggests that India… Read More
Growing Tensions in the Air, Literally, over East Asia
On November 23, the People’s Republic of China announced a new air defense identification zone (ADIZ) covering a large swath of the East China Sea. Most… Read More
What the Mehsud Strike Means for Fighting Global Terrorism
It was welcome news that a U.S.-launched drone strike killed Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) who was responsible for slaughtering thousands of Pakistanis… Read More
Hearing on Afghanistan Highlights Importance of Residual Force
Panelists at a recent hearing by the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia urged Congress to maintain a strong residual… Read More
Trending Terrorism in Asia
A recent survey of indicators compiled and presented by The Heritage Foundation found that Asian countries comprise three out of the top four countries with… Read More
Promoting Economic Freedom in Asia: Time for Secretary Lew to Step Up
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is touring Asia this week. He will visit Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam and end with a much-anticipated visit to… Read More
Wal-Mart and Economic Freedom in India
Wal-Mart recently decided to part ways with the Indian firm Bharti, thus ending its efforts to penetrate India. The breakdown in cooperation between the Indian… Read More
Burma Is Not Ready for Mil-to-Mil Cooperation with the U.S.
Has Burma made enough reforms to have military-to-military cooperation with the U.S.? Congressman Steve Chabot (R–OH) says no. In a recent speech at The Heritage… Read More
Asian Immigration Outpacing Immigration from Latin America
Asian immigration may soon exceed Latin American immigration, according to a recently released report from The Heritage Foundation. Immigration from China and India alone are… Read More
Time to Prepare for a North Korean Collapse
“I’m not predicting that [a North Korean] collapse is imminently going to occur, what I am trying to argue is that we need to be… Read More
Asia Accounts for Two out of Three People Enslaved Worldwide
The recently released Global Slavery Index reveals that there are an estimated 29.8 million people enslaved worldwide. Almost half of the index’s listed top offenders… Read More
Chinese Call for “De-Americanization” Is an Empty Suggestion
A recent editorial in the Chinese newspaper Global Times called for “de-Americanization.” Concerned with the American government shutdown and the prospect of the debt ceiling… Read More
Southeast Asia: In Obama’s Absence, China Takes Initiative
Reactions to President Obama’s absence from this year’s Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum highlighted the stakes of American leadership in Southeast Asia and shined a… Read More
Asia: What’s at Stake for America
The Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center recently released “A New View of Asia: 24 Charts That Show What’s at Stake for America,” an annual publication… Read More
Chinese Military Displays Improving Capabilities
Even as U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh III was visiting China, the Chinese military, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), was conducting… Read More
SecurityNews
Give the Marines a Kabar, Not a FUBAR
FUBAR is military jargon for “fouled up beyond all recognition.” Kabar is the knife Marines carry. As things stand with sequestration, servicemen and women who… Read More
Pakistan Terrorist Attack Bears Hallmarks of al-Qaeda
The dual suicide bombing of a Sunday morning church service in Peshawar, Pakistan, over the weekend is not typical of the kinds of attacks the… Read More
News
Southeast Asia and the Limits of American Soft Power
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s swing through Southeast Asia last week was notable not for the headlines and handshake photos he generated but the ones generated… Read More
Six Party Talks: You Didn’t Remember Our Anniversary??
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the initiation of Six-Party Talks to get North Korea to abandon the nuclear weapons it previously promised never to… Read More
SecurityNews
U.S. Fleet Shrinks as China and India Build New Aircraft Carriers
India launched its new aircraft carrier last week, the 37,500-ton INS Vikrant. In response, a state-run Chinese newspaper called for more carriers in the People’s… Read More
SecurityNews
Armed Services Struggle Under Cuts: Defense Review Doesn’t Provide Solutions
The recent Strategic Choices Management Review (SCMR) issued by the Department of Defense makes some alarming predictions about future readiness, such as the possibility of… Read More
News
Visiting Yasukuni War Memorial Stirs Controversy in Asia–Pacific
August 15 marks the 68th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. It is also a day when some Japanese politicians pay respect to… Read More
Enhanced Military Cooperation: U.S. and Philippines Should Seize the Day
According to press reports, the U.S. and the Philippines have floated the possibility of building joint storage facilities for U.S. humanitarian and disaster relief equipment… Read More
Bangladesh: Keys to a Better Future
“If there is any roadblock to us [moving Bangladesh to a better future], it is not the economy.… It is the political structure and the… Read More
China GDP Claims Don’t Matter
China’s State Statistical Bureau (SSB) announced second-quarter real gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 7.5 percent and first-half real GDP at 7.6 percent. High or… Read More
Burma: Neighbors Call Out Regime on Rohingya Ethnic Cleansing
Burma’s neighbors are finally speaking out about the ethnic cleansing occurring at their doorsteps. Both Indonesia and Malaysia have made public statements asking Burma to… Read More
Include Taiwan in the Trans-Pacific Partnership
“We do hope to [get] into TPP [Trans-Pacific Partnership] as early as possible,” said Mignonne Man-Jung Chan, former senior adviser to the President on Taiwan,… Read More
Human Trafficking Still a Major Concern in Asia
The release of the State Department’s latest Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) revealed that Asia is home to some of the worst perpetrators of illegal… Read More
So Much for Korean Dialogue
The White House is spinning the U.S.–China summit as “quite unique and important meetings” between Presidents Obama and Xi, which resulted in “quite a bit… Read More
North Korean Refugees Struggle to Reach Freedom
Nine North Korean refugees who had escaped from their homeland and made their way to Laos were forcibly repatriated on May 28. The defectors, ranging… Read More
