Global Security
Global Security
Fair Observer's analysis of issues in governance, constitution, law, enforcement, and justice both nationally and internationally.
-
360° Analysis / China / Diaoyu / Diaoyu Protection Societies / Fire-control radar / Japan / military / Nationalism / Noda Yoshihiko / Pinnacled Pavilions / Politics / Senkaku / Sino-Japanese / Xi Jinping / BRIC / Global Security / AsiaBy Wilson ChewOfficial belligerence conceals the varied sources of militant Chinese nationalism over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands The Japanese name for the Diaoyu Islands is Senkaku, or "Pinnacled Pavilions," which sounds far more fitting for a sitcom setting than for an international flashpoint. Yet flashpoints they are – a cluster of uninhabited islets and rocks jutting from the East China Sea, over which China and Japan are once again drifting towards war. This latest round of confrontations, which began in 2012 and has since become a steady stream of saber rattling on both sides, poses potentially disastrous consequences for the region. With Chinese and Japanese military assets...
-
360° Analysis / Afghanistan / Ansar Dine / AQIM / Iraq / Libya / Mali / MOJWA / Africa / Global SecurityThe fear that Mali could turn into another Afghanistan is unwarranted. Just last month concern was mounting that stiff Islamist resistance in Mali, combined with the alleged presence of heavy or sophisticated equipment in the rebel arsenal, would lead to a protracted and difficult campaign. Even though the majority of the country has been retaken, and heavy losses have been inflicted on the Islamist coalition, this fear persists. Some still cling to panicked comparisons to Iraq or Afghanistan. This is unwarranted. The anxiety caused by the realization that Islamist fighters planned on holding the line and engaging in street fighting was entirely misplaced and their capabilities...
-
US Senate Resolution 298 is simply a continuation of a failed containment policy, argues Michael Bassett. Cultural engagement, and not containment, is the path to unification on the Korean Peninsula. The “North Korea Nonproliferation and Accountability Act of 2013,” Senate Resolution 298, which passed in the US Senate by a unanimous vote on February 25, is most likely to be another unproductive measure taken by the US government against North Korea. Worryingly, Section 3(7) of the resolution directs that the US government should “…explore all appropriate measures for enhanced military operations in the Asia-Pacific Region…” This language in the...
-
360° Analysis / 7th fleet / China / Isolation / Japan / Juche / Kim-Jong Un / Korean Peninsular / North Korea / Nuclear Missile / Park / Politics / Pyongyang / Sanctions / society / South Korea / United States / Global Security / AsiaNicholas A. Heras speaks to North Korea expert Michael Bassett about the country's internal society and its role in the international system. Read part one here. Nicholas A. Heras: Is the peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula under one state possible, and under what conditions? Michael Bassett: Peaceful unification is not only possible, but it is inevitable. North Korea has wanted unification, as a top desire, since 1948. Kim Jung Un's unification policy is geared through engagement with South Korea. South Korea wants to unify when North Koreans are more socially developed, because such a rapid economic migration from North to South would result in social and economic...
-
360° Analysis / Juche / Kim Jong-Un / Korean Peninsular / North Korea / Nuclear Missile / Park / Politics / Pyongyang / Rogue state / Seoul / South Korea / Totalitarian System / Global Security / AsiaThe international community should normalize relations with North Korea to raise mutual cultural understanding and trust between North Koreans and the outside world. Analyzing North Korea and its place in the international system strikes a personal chord. For me, it is frustrating that so many international actors, state and non-state, are seemingly in a state of perpetual war. The process of understanding North Korea’s society, and its conflict with the outside world, has been ongoing for a third of my life. I joined the military in 1997 and spent all ten years of my military career overseas. The majority of my career in the military was spent on or near the de-militarized zone (DMZ...
-
360° Analysis / Asia-Pacific / China / Japan / United States / Finance & Economics / BRIC / Global Security / AsiaBy Online MBATensions have been brewing in Asia. This video looks at the potential of a war between China and Japan, and what the economic impact could be. Global economists are keeping their eyes glued to the Asia-Pacific region, where a bitter feud is brewing between two of the world’s most powerful nations over a small collectivity of islands in the East China Sea. The Chinese government argues that a treaty signed during the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) conferred ownership of the islands to China. Japan has long disputed these claims, and today argues that the islands are integral to its national identity. The argument came to a head last September, when a boycott of Japanese products...
-
1962 / 360° Analysis / China / Diaspora / India / India-China War / Relations / BRIC / Global Security / AsiaThe Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies, presents an overview of their recent conference on the 50th anniversary of the India-China war of 1962. Founded in 2011, the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) is an Indo-American think tank devoted to providing an Indian perspective on political, socio-cultural and economic foreign policy matters, and matters related to India and the Indian diaspora worldwide. On the 50th anniversary of the India-China war in 1962, FIIDS hosted the conference “Indo China Relations: From Conflict to Collaboration 50 Years after the 1962 War.” As an inaugural keynote speaker, India’s Deputy Chief of Mission in the...
-
360° Analysis / 7th fleet / China / Isolation / Japan / Juche / Kim-Jong Un / Korean Peninsular / North Korea / Nuclear Missile / Park / Politics / Pyongyang / Sanctions / society / South Korea / United States / Global Security / AsiaNicholas A. Heras speaks to North Korea expert Michael Bassett about the country's internal society and its role in the international system. North Korea is again at the center of international attention due to assertions that its leadership is pursuing a program of enriching uranium in order to add more nuclear weapons to its current stockpile. In the context of the United States’ military’s ongoing “Asia Pivot,” and the disquiet of North Korea’s neighbors at the prospect of a nuclear arms race in East Asia, gaining a strong understanding of North Korea and its society remains a top priority for international affairs professionals and the global public...
-
defense / G8 / Magnitsky / obama / Politics / Russia / START / Europe / Focus Article / Global SecurityAccording to Alexander Golts, the Munich Security Conference marks the lowest point in US-Russian relations for the past 20 years. When a group of actors wants to portray a noisy crowd, they often say to each other, "What should we talk about when there's nothing to talk about?" It seems that U.S.-Russian relations are in the same state and that the only option left for the leaders of both countries is to behave like provincial actors repeating a meaningless jumble of words. The security conference in Munich over the weekend provided a convincing demonstration of this. Both U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov tried to put a positive face...