News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Duncan Moore.
1. U.S. position on maritime claims in the South China Sea - United States Department of State
2. Why Mike Pompeo's South China Sea statement is so significant
3. Philippines: China should comply with sea feud ruling
4. US rejects nearly all Chinese claims in South China Sea
5. Rule of law in the South China Sea
6. With protests curbed, Hong Kong's opposition looks to the ballot box
7. Iran could face a summer of nuclear sabotage
8. Time to close the legal loopholes that facilitate Russian illicit finance
9. Re-forge strategic alliances and check China abroad, rebuild economy at home
10. The U.S. must respond forcefully to Russia and the Taliban. Here's how.
11. Seduced by China’s honeytrap spies: book that lays bare how deeply the Chinese have infiltrated Britain reveals how they steal intelligence using blackmail, money… and sex
12. Future echoes; is Covid-19 the latest Cold War ghost to surface?
13. Rundown of China's spy agencies will make uncomfortable reading for some
14. Pompeo spoke with Russia's Lavrov about Afghanistan: U.S. State Dept
15. WHO warns 'no return to normal' amid pandemic
16. The top 5 REALLY important NDAA policies
17. Ex-US diplomat Richardson to urge Maduro to free Americans, including 2 former Green Berets
18. HASC chair Smith: troops 'not ready to fight' without resource-informed strategy
19. The anti-American century
20. Hundreds come forward as #IAmVanessaGuillen movement surges online
21. Biden's foreign-policy blast from the past
22. Why the U.S. needs a strong diplomatic corps
23. Amid pandemic, Pentagon would cut 'chem-bio' protections
1. U.S. position on maritime claims in the South China Sea - United States Department of State
US Department of State · by Michael R. Pompeo · July 13, 2020
A most important statement. This statement is generating a lot of news articles and a response from China.
2. Why Mike Pompeo's South China Sea statement is so significant
Washington Examiner · by Tom Rogan · July 13, 2020
This article offers a very significant conclusion. What can we do to prevent conflict and are we ready if conflict does break out?
3. Philippines: China should comply with sea feud ruling
Real Clear Defense · by Jim Gomez · July 14, 2020
Rule of law or rule by law? China is a rule by law nation - its own laws.
4. US rejects nearly all Chinese claims in South China Sea
Military Times · by Matthew Lee & Lolita Baldor · July 13, 2020
5. Rule of law in the South China Sea
Wall Street Journal · by the Editorial Board · July 13, 2020
6. With protests curbed, Hong Kong's opposition looks to the ballot box
The New York Times · by Tiffany May · July 13, 2020
Following Gene Sharp's From Dictatorship to Democracy?
7. Iran could face a summer of nuclear sabotage
FDD · by Andrea Stricker Research Fellow · July 13, 2020
So I guess the "summer of fun" is out.
8. Time to close the legal loopholes that facilitate Russian illicit finance
FDD · by John Hardie Research Manager · July 12, 2020
It is all about the money. This should be a no brainer. We need to crack down on this. Russia is not a responsible member of the international community.
9. Re-forge strategic alliances and check China abroad, rebuild economy at home
FDD · by Elaine K. Dezenski · July 13, 2020
Three easy to understand but very important actions for our way forward. Can we do this? I would argue we must do this. To do otherwise will do long term if not irreparable damage to the US.
10. The U.S. must respond forcefully to Russia and the Taliban. Here's how.
The Washington Post · by John W. Nicholson · July 13, 2020
11. Seduced by China’s honeytrap spies: book that lays bare how deeply the Chinese have infiltrated Britain reveals how they steal intelligence using blackmail, money… and sex
Daily Mail · by Clive Hamilton · July 13, 2020
The oldest trick in the book, but we still fall for it. We should have no illusions about how the CCP operates.
My self-esteem is quite low because on my trips to China they never approached me! I have also seen them in operation at conferences here in DC but they never chat me up (yes, this is said with some humor, but I have observed them in DC).
12. Future echoes; is Covid-19 the latest Cold War ghost to surface?
Forbes · by Paul Kennard · July 14, 2020
A UK perspective. What might we learn from the Cold War? I certainly hated the NBC training we did during the Cold War. It was so hard to try to practice working in a contaminated environment. But, perhaps there are lessons.
13. Rundown of China's spy agencies will make uncomfortable reading for some
The Sydney Morning Herald · by Peter Hartcher · July 13, 2020
A view from Australia and New Zealand. Do we know the ABC's of the Chinese spy agencies? I admit I do not know them well enough and they certainly do not roll off the tongue from CIA, FBI, MI6, etc.
14. Pompeo spoke with Russia's Lavrov about Afghanistan: U.S. State Dept
Reuters · by Eric Beech, Mohammad Zargham, & Lincoln Feast · July 13, 2020
15. WHO warns 'no return to normal' amid pandemic
The Chosun Ilbo · by VOA News · July 14, 2020
I agree with the WHO that we cannot go back to our old ways, at least not while the pandemic rages and I think even after it subsides we will be in for a new normal. The question is can we say we "won't get fooled again?" I mean the WHO did once sing that. Perhaps my generation might have to get on the magic bus, because I can't explain why Tommy is a pinball wizard (my apologies to those not of the WHO generation).
16. The Top 5 REALLY Important NDAA Policies
Breaking Defense · by Mackenzie Eaglen · July 13, 2020
1. Navy Procurement and Force Structure Assessment
2. Big Budget Changes; Ending "Use It or Lose It"
3. Eliminating the Pentagon's Chief Management Officer
4. Keeping U.S. Troops In Germany (my comment: and Korea, too – but that has been in the last two NDAAs and similar language is in this one)
5. Pitting the F-35 Against the Virginia Class
17. Ex-US diplomat Richardson to urge Maduro to free Americans, including 2 former Green Berets
Military Times · by Joshua Goodman · July 13, 2020
Best of luck. I guess he will try to apply his North Korea experience to Venezuela. Maybe he can give us a comparison of Maduro and the Kims.
18. HASC chair Smith: troops 'not ready to fight' without resource-informed strategy
USNI News · by Megan Eckstein · July 13, 2020
Resource informed is another way to say resource constrained. As I have often written, we have more senior leaders talking knowledgeably about the National Security and National Defense Strategies than at any time I can recall in the past 4 decades. The question is can we adequately resource the strategies? As the saying goes, a strategy without resources is a hallucination or something like that.
19. The anti-American century
Foreign Policy · by Zachary Karabell · July 13, 2020
Mark Twain had a saying about being down and out and even dead. But what will replace the US led world order? I guess we will believe it when we see it.
The author notes the crumbling of three pillars: (1) the first pillar of the American Century to be knocked aside was military; (2) the second pillar to crumble was economic; (3) the final pillar was democracy.
Spoiler alert: the author's prescription is we let go of American exceptionalism and embrace American humility, realizing that America is a country like every other. Hmmm...
20. Hundreds come forward as #IAmVanessaGuillen movement surges online
Military Times · by Sarah Sicard · July 13, 2020
I hope (as we have hoped before) that some good will come from this terrible tragedy.
21. Biden's foreign-policy blast from the past
Wall Street Journal · by Walter Russell Mead · July 13, 2020
I do not offer with any partisan intent. It does two things. First, I think it does provide a fairly detailed and accurate view of Biden's views on foreign policy. Second, it is the most polite "debunking" of someone's foreign policy I have ever read and it should not only appeal to Biden supporters who will say yes, that is what I believe and that is what makes sense, but also Biden opponents who can say, yes that is what Biden and his supporters believe and it makes NO sense. This essay could actually be a template for the debates as it lays out the views and issues in a very succinct way.
22. Japan needs fight-style reform
The Japan Times · by Kuni Miyake · July 13, 2020
This is about first strike offensive operations and ridding Japan of its obsolete style of warfighting. This will be welcomed by the US but panned by the Chinese and Koreans.
22. Why the U.S. needs a strong diplomatic corps
Barron's · by David McKean and Jason Bruder · July 14, 2020
Sigh... this should go without saying. Putting aside the perspective that this is in anticipation of a new administration, the authors make some important points that should be addressed by any administration. We need a diplomatic corps as strong as a military officer corps and our intelligence officer corps (if not stronger than both).
23. Amid pandemic, Pentagon would cut 'chem-bio' protections
Roll Call · by John M Donnelly · July 13, 2020
Timing is everything. Why now?
"Here's the wicked paradox about terrorism. Long-term responses do nothing about short-term dangers. Short-term reactions feed extremism over long term."
- Carmen Medina former DDI, CIA, 19 NOV 2015
"The freedom to criticize ideas, any ideas - even if they are sincerely held beliefs - is one of the fundamental freedoms of society."
-Rowan Atkinson
"And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand?... The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin's thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt! If...if...We didn't love freedom enough. And even more - we had no awareness of the real situation.... We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward."
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn