Reuters: “I am serving notice now to the Americans, this will be the last military exercise,” Duterte said during a visit to Vietnam. “Jointly, Philippines-U.S.: the last one.” The significance cannot be overstated. While Reuters interprets this event as “fissures”, it is far more significant. It is a rupture. The only mitigation of the bad … Continue reading Pivot to Asia; Duterte declares end of Philippines-U.S. war games
Pivot To Asia; Force Projection, Part 3 is a discussion of hard power. Symmetry suggests that “soft power” is a symmetric opposite. At least, that’s what I thought when I finished with, “Next: hard versus soft.” But it’s not. Soft power encompasses every aspect of competition between societies. Perhaps, in outer aspect, in gaining allies … Continue reading Pivot to Asia; Soft Power, 1 of many
The authors of the pivot might prefer euphemistic phrasing, such as, “For decades, U.S. naval presence has helped to keep the peace in the western Pacific…” The use of hard power to “manage China” has roots in gunboat diplomacy, which was the traditional way for the European powers to deal with the weak China of … Continue reading Pivot To Asia; Force Projection, Part 3
If you tire of the gastronomic travel tours of the Sunday Times, try Paul Theroux, who replaces complaisant companions with a bottle of booze (The Old Patagonian Express), and with a canoe in The Happy Isles of Oceania. Theroux is above neither praise or criticism, but his sardonic observations about the smaller islands of Oceania, … Continue reading Pivot To Asia, Cultural Aspects, Part 2
One day in 1894 or ’95, a seaman in the British merchant-marine put pen to paper, and wrote “a story of an eastern river.” Although he spoke English with a thick Polish accent, Joseph Conrad came to be regarded as the greatest novelist in the English language. Almayer’s Folly was his first work, based largely … Continue reading Pivot To Asia, Historical Background; Part 1
This blog contains so many Asia articles, it would be superfluous to write on the occasion of Trump’s Asia trip. Nothing new has transpired. It’s a lot of reading. Even in capsule form, there may be enough words to hide the obvious conclusion, of which there are many examples. Imagine for a moment the U.S. … Continue reading Selected China Readings; Trump’s Asia Tour
This article is written as a mystery. Did the authors meditate on the vanishingly small percentage of readers who could interpret? (Reuters) U.S. withholding $105 million in security aid for Lebanon. Quoting, The administration had sought approval for the assistance starting in May, arguing that it was crucial for Lebanon, an important U.S. partner in … Continue reading Reuters: U.S. withholding $105 million in security aid for Lebanon; Night Vision Goggles; Vox Populi
(CNN) Why a military spat between Japan and South Korea could snowball into crisis. This is a good article, omitting only what should be common knowledge: Japan invaded Korea in 1910, occupied, colonized, and predated it until 1945. Japan’s enormous explosion of potential energy, resulting from the Meji Restoration of 1867, projected into the 20th … Continue reading Japan – South Korea Military Spat
We continue from Providing for the Common Defense; Report of National Defense Strategy Commission, Part 1. Our goal is to undermine it. The report consists of findings, not arguments against a hypothetical assertion that current defense allocations are sufficient. The geopolitical goals are also stated, not argued. These come out of a broad consensus that … Continue reading Providing for the Common Defense; Report of National Defense Strategy Commission, Part 2
(CNN) CIA official: China wants to replace US as world superpower. Quoting CIA’s Michael Collins, “By their own terms and what Xi enunciates I would argue by definition what they’re waging against us is fundamentally a cold war, a cold war not like we saw during the Cold War, but a cold war by definition. … Continue reading Aspen Security Conference; The Rise of China, Part 1