Every Friday, The Diplomat’s Harry Kazianis looks out across the net to find the best articles and analysis involving defense, strategic affairs, and foreign policy. From America’s pivot to Asia, China’s growing military power, North Korea’s seemingly daily threats to the various territorial spats across the region, The Diplomat has you covered with what you need to know going into the weekend.
Here is our top five this Friday. Have we missed something you think should be included? Want to share an important article with other readers? Please submit your links in the comment box below! Happy Friday!
N. Korean missile launch sites show increased activities: Sources (Yonhap News) – “North Korea's missile sites have recently shown increased activities in the wake of the communist nation's threat to strike South Korea and the United States in response to their ongoing military drill involving nuclear-capable bombers, military sources in Seoul said Friday.”
U.N. Treaty to Control Arms Sales Hits Snag (New York Times) – “The objections were at least a temporary setback for the treaty, the most ambitious attempt to regulate global trade in conventional weapons.”
Iraq, Afghan wars to cost U.S. up to $6 trillion: Study (The Japan Times) – “The U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will cost American taxpayers $4 trillion to $6 trillion, taking into account the medical care of wounded veterans and expensive repairs to a force depleted by more than a decade of fighting, according to a new study by a Harvard University researcher.”
The Lost Logic of Deterrence (Foreign Affairs) – “For half a century, deterrence was the backbone of U.S. national security strategy. But now, Washington doesn't seem to know how and when to use it properly. The United States has needlessly applied deterrence to Russia, failed to apply it when it should have against Iraq and Iran, and been dangerously confused about whether to apply it to China. U.S. policymakers need to relearn the basics of deterrence in order to apply it successfully in the appropriate circumstances.”
Wang Yi: A Top Diplomat on a Top Assignment (The Daily Beast) – Wang Yi is urbane, multilingual, pragmatic, and, when needed, a wily negotiator. In short: he is everything a top diplomat should be. And that is a good thing, because as China’s new foreign minister, he’ll have his hands full.