American political and military leaders are amplifying flawed estimates that China’s annual defense spending is much higher than it actually is. In these mistaken calculations, China’s defense spending has reached $700 billion, approaching the level of…

It’s time for the national security enterprise to take non-lethal weapons seriously. Yes, non-lethal weapons. The Defense Department has been trying to come to terms with the use of non-lethal weapons in military operations for at least three decades. …

This week the Italian carrier strike group centered on the aircraft carrier ITS Cavour and the frigate ITS Alpino is pulling into Tokyo Bay. The carrier strike group is taking to Japan a 13-strong air wing of AV-8B Harrier II jets and cutting-edge F-35…

Sometime next year, the Royal Canadian Navy will take delivery of its first of two new Joint Support Ships, HMCS Protecteur. The project is about a billion Canadian dollars over its anticipated cost and a decade late. Moreover, the ships that the Prote…

It could be a boat anchor that kicks off the invasion of Taiwan, not a bullet. The thousands of miles of sub-sea cables are what make everything function — not just in Taiwan — and it’s clear to any invading force that owning this is key to winning any…

Major or minor You don’t want yourself An incident Don’t ever invade China Mark Knopfler, Don’t Crash the Ambulance (2004)     Just as the U.S. National Defense Strategy lists homeland defense as the first priority of the Department of Defens…

There’s a story about the dangers of slow, incremental change. The story says if you throw a frog in hot, boiling water, he’ll jump right out. The way to boil a frog is to start with room-temperature water, and then slowly increase the temperature one …

Since 1979, it has been the policy of the United States, as codified in the Taiwan Relations Act, to maintain the capacity to resist the use of force or other forms of coercion by China against Taiwan. Until recently it could be taken for granted that …

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stated at the recent NATO summit that “North Atlantic security is inseparable from East Asian security.” His words highlight the growing realization among Asian and European states that both regions are increasingly…

The last few years have seen a surge in defense spending, particularly in regard to conventional defense technologies. “We’ve had a huge increase in demand from our European allies and partners over the last few years since the … invasion by the …