Russia Launches Naval Exercises in Black Sea Amid Escalating Standoff with Ukraine

One day after Russia accused Ukraine of attempted incursions across the de facto border into Crimea, the territory annexed by Moscow in 2014, Kiev put its military on high alert and the Kremlin announced the start of war games in the Black Sea, raising fnars of a return to open war in the country for the first time in more than a year.

U.S. will seek billions more to support Afghan military efforts

Afghan border police take their positions following clashes with Pakistani forces on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan in eastern Nangarhar province on Wednesday. (Noorullah Shirzada/AFP/Getty Images)

America’s longest war is about to include more cash for Afghanistan’s army and police force — without any new conditions to try to ensure it doesn’t get gobbled up before making it to the battlefield.

Behind Indonesia’s Red Scare: Why is the Indonesian military again warning of an imminent communist revolution?

A military trainer inspects participants of the Bela Negara (defend the nation) program as they stand at attention at a training center in Rumpin, Bogor, West Java, Indonesia June 2, 2016.

Image Credit: REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

Around 50 years after the obliteration of the Indonesian Communist Party (Partai Komunis Indonesia, or PKI), the specter of communism has risen again to seek revenge against the proud nationalists who saved the country from disintegration – at least that’s what Defense Minister Ryamizard Rycadu thinks. For the past few months, hardliners within the military elite have been stoking public anxiety about communism’s re-emergence in Indonesia. Military figures have publicly warned of discreet attempts by communists to launch a revolution and reminded citizens to steer clear of communism or risk imprisonment. Additionally, several organizations associated with the military, most notably the Communication Forum on Indonesian Veterans’ Children (FKPPI), have staged protests and raised bannersacross the island of Java to warn of communism’s potential ascent.

Pentagon: Chinese Military Modernization Enters “New Phase”

China’s decades-long military modernization “entered a new phase” last year under the aggressive leadership of President Xi Jinping, a new Pentagon report on Beijing’s military capabilities said today. The “sweeping transformation” includes making the formerly mass army a nimbler, more balanced force that is acquiring the kind of expeditionary capabilities the U.S. military already enjoys.

The Two Words that Explain China’s Assertive Naval Strategy

The just-completed Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore dwelt largely on China’s maritime ambitions, zeroing in on its construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea. In his keynote address, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter vowed to “continue to protect freedom of navigation and overflight principles that have ensured security and prosperity in this region for decades.” There should be no mistake, continued Carter, that “the United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, as U.S. forces do all over the world.” The United States, its allies, and its partners will exercise “the rights of all nations” to their fullest, he said. That the U.S. secretary of defense traveled to the far side of the world to speak so bluntly shows how seriously Washington takes the China challenge.

China’s Military Blueprint: Bigger Navy, Bigger Global Role

China laid out its military strategy in its first-ever defense white paper, promising not to hit first, but vowing to strike back hard if attacked in a world full of what it sees as potential threats.

Cost Disease in China's Military

Image Credit: REUTERS/Bobby Yip

China’s economic rise means that the world’s largest army now also has the resources of the world’s second largest economy. The security implications of this are discussed in the U.S. Department of Defence’s latest report, which highlights not only the sheer growth of China’s military, but also its sustainability. Although China still spends less on its military than the United States spends on its own defense forces, China’s far higher economic growth suggests it will be able to catch-up rapidly, with relatively little economic burden. This contrasts with America’s economic malaise and raises questions over the credibility of the U.S. security guarantees to Western Pacific allies and its pivot to Asia.

Israeli soldiers cast doubt on legality of Gaza military tactics

Testimonies provided by more than 60 Israeli soldiers who fought in last summer’s war in Gaza have raised serious questions over whether Israel’s tactics breached its obligations under international law to distinguish and protect civilians.


Israeli soldier testimony: ‘Most of our shooting was random... we didn’t think about civilian casualties’ – video

The claims – collected by the human rights group Breaking the Silence – are contained in dozens of interviews with Israeli combatants, as well as with soldiers who served in command centres and attack rooms, a quarter of them officers up to the rank of major.

Japan Reconsiders Military Engagement Overseas

In one of the most significant changes to Tokyo's foreign aid charter in more than a decade, the Japanese Cabinet has modified the rules for its overseas assistance fund to allow support for foreign militaries engaged in non-combat activities. The evolution of the Official Development Assistance fund (ODA), now known as the Development Cooperation Charter, means that Japan can expand the scope of its activities abroad, previously limited to grants, aid, technical cooperation and infrastructure development.

Tokyo is attempting to redefine itself internationally in response to evolving regional, economic and security threats. As a result, Japan must take increasing responsibility for its overseas activities and manage the risk associated with its maturing foreign policy. The expanded charter is not completely groundbreaking, but it is one of many steps reflecting Japan's 21st century aspirations. The biggest question, though, is not the extent of Japan's transformation from a post-war model, but whether Tokyo can afford it.

Lifting the veil

SO SECRETIVE is China’s army that it began admitting foreign journalists to its monthly—and highly uninformative—briefings only last year. But in the past few months extraordinary revelations have appeared in the Chinese media about corruption in the highest ranks of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA): a deputy chief of logistics built a mansion for himself modelled on the Forbidden City (among his treasures was a statue of Mao Zedong, in gold); the country’s most senior uniformed officer had a basement stacked high with cash; and in January it emerged that no fewer than 15 generals, including a former deputy chief of the nuclear arsenal, were being investigated for graft (see article). Never before in China’s history have so many high-ranking officers faced such charges at once.

Christian Le Miere: Evaluating Russia's Black Sea Fleet

There are certainly political and ethno-cultural reasons for Moscow to desire continued influence in the Crimea, but the purely military-strategic importance of Sevastopol to Russia’s broader military strategy has in fact weakened in recent years.

By Christian Le Miere, Senior Fellow for Naval Forces and Maritime Security

With recent protests in Ukraine’s Crimea demanding secession or reunification with Russia, much attention has been focused on Moscow’s naval base on the peninsula. What happens to the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol after the fall of pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych is part of a bigger Crimean picture. There are certainly political and ethno-cultural reasons for Moscow to desire continued influence in the Crimea, but the purely military-strategic importance of Sevastopol to Russia’s broader military strategy has in fact weakened in recent years. 

The U.S. Navy's Newest Destroyer Is a Drone

By Drake Bennett   

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Courtesy General Dynamics Photo/US Navy

The USS Zumalt, a destroyer

When the U.S. Navy christens the first of its newest class of destroyers this month, it will launch the first ship with a brain of its own.

Reserve Currency and Military Power: Lessons from the Sterling Era and the Future of America’s Military Might

Do states with reserve currency status hold the upper hand when it comes to maintaining their military might? Rosella Cappella believes so. To help illustrate her point – and what it might mean for the United States – she looks at how Britain once used its ‘Sterling supremacy’ as a ‘power multiplier’.

By Rosella Cappella

One can fire at any target from the Black Sea

 

Photo: Igor Kasatonov. novayagazeta.ru

If necessary, modern arms are quite capable to fire at any target, said ADM Igor Kasatonov, adviser to Russia's Chief of the General Staff on TV show "Informal Talk".

Drone killing the fifth amendment

Peter Van Buren

How to build a post-constitutional America one death at a time

19 February, by Peter Van Buren

 

Terrorism (ter-ror-ism; see also terror) n. 1. When a foreign organization kills an American for political reasons.

The US Army Is Considering A Plan To Replace Thousands Of Troops With Robots

The US Army is studying whether robots could take the place of thousands of soldiers
The US Army is considering replacing thousands of soldiers with robots as it deals with sweeping troop cuts.

Europe's Sole Military Force: Giving France Respect Where It Is Due

REUTERS

French troops line up in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic.

French troops are fighting in bloody conflicts around the world, most recently in the Central African Republic. Other EU members, including Germany, say they will now provide support for these deployments. It's high time. 

U.S. plan for new, Western-trained Libyan force faces obstacles

Deepening divisions among Libya’s myriad armed groups are increasingly stirring conflict in the North African state. Now the United States and its allies are prepared to add a new force to the toxic mix.

ED GILES/For The Washington Post - Tanks and armored vehicles formerly belonging to the Libyan Army sit in a lot in Zintan, in the Nafusa Mountains, Libya.

U.S. officials say the hope is that theGeneral Purpose Force — a trained Libyan military organization — will start to fill the country’s festering security vacuum, initially by protecting vital government installations and the individuals struggling to make this country run. The Obama administration hopes the force eventually will form the core of a new national army.

One Chart Shows The Magnitude Of US Naval Dominance

The single most important factor in U.S. military dominance is the country's powerful navy, which gives the ability to project power anywhere in the world.

Most importantly, it is the Navy's unparalleled fleet of aircraft carriers.

Russian S-300 missiles a pawn in diplomatic game, Wikileaks show

Moscow's plan to fulfill the arms deal signed with Syria in 2010 is a ploy in its power struggle with the West, newly leaked secret cables suggest • Russia was well aware of Israel's concerns over missile shipment, decided to ignore them, memos show.

Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff

S-300 anti-aircraft missile system mounted on a trailer |  Photo credit: Reuters

Russia's pledge to deliver anti-aircraft missiles to Damascus at a time when world powers are trying to end Syria's civil war is consistent with a pattern of using the weapons system as a bargaining chip in its power struggle with the West.