1. The Chinese Navy Has a Problem

    Flashpoints

    Debates over China’s anti-access system of systems and its desire to pierce the successive Pacific Island chains often overlook the [...]

  2. Japan Explores War Scenarios with China

    Flashpoints

    As Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party national defense task force announced on Jan. 8 that it would increase the nation’s defense budget by [...]

  3. U.S.-Japan to Revise Defense Ties

    Flashpoints

    Much has been said in recent months about the so-called U.S. “pivot” to Asia, a rebalancing that, though often discussed, [...]

  4. Taiwan Hedges its Bets on China

    Flashpoints

    By a number of yardsticks, relations in the Taiwan Strait today are the best they’ve been in years, if not [...]

  5. Strategy for an Unthinkable Conflict

    Flashpoints

    The Obama administration’s “rebalancing to Asia” has generated a great deal of discussion about how it impacts the defense acquisition [...]

  6. Underestimating China

    Flashpoints

    US analysts and policymakers have been slow to appreciate the pace of China's military progress. Is this changing?

  7. Boys Toys vs. Geography

    Flashpoints

    If it’s true that the last stories of the year have offered a glimpse of the trends for what’s to [...]