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China's Real South China Sea Mistake ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Elizabith C. Economy)

PLAN Type-71 Changbaishan ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Kees Torn) Source- The National Interest Author- Elizabeth C. Economy f the recent Shangri-La Dialogue demonstrated one thing—aside from the fact that Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong can deliver an important speech that is both strong and subtle—it is that mitigating tensions in the South China Sea remains a problem with no solution in sight. As the Chinese have continued with their reef reclamation and low-level militarization of small islands in the South China Sea, a number of Chinese scholars and foreign policy officials have sought to clarify the reasons behind Beijing’s actions. Yet what emerges from all the disparate voices is a sense that there is no compelling rationale—or at least not one that the foreign policy community can acknowledge. Instead, there is significant effort to impute an acceptable rationale to the country’s destabilizing behavior. The past is precedent:  Ot

US, India Look to 'Open up' Defense Relationship ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Franz-Stefan Gady)

Image credits- Flickr / MEA Official gallery Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz- Stefan Gady Today, while on a two-day visit to India, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced that New Delhi and Washington agreed on two small technology co-development projects at a total cost of $1 million, to be split evenly by the two countries over a two year period. The two projects, led by India’s Defense Research and Development Organization and the Pentagon research labs, will focus on the joint development of a next generation solar generator and a new protective chemical-bio suit, the Wall Street Journal reports. “We have big ambitions. Some of the projects that we’re launching just now are in part intended to blaze a trail for things to come,” Carter told reporters while in New Delhi. However, he also cautioned: “There is a legacy, and historical burden, of bureaucracy in both countries, and it is a constant exercise in stripping that away. It’s just the burden

China Is Playing Offense, Not Defense, in the South China Sea ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Denny Roy)

Image credits- RT.com Source- The Diplomat Author- Denny Roy The construction of artificial islands is the latest and most dramatically tangible example of what many observers call increased Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea, where China is one of six governments that claim sovereignty over some of the same territory. A key question is whether Chinese assertiveness is the result of provocations by other countries. If so, these other countries should cease and desist if we want to de-escalate tensions in the region. There are three theories of China’s approach to the territorial dispute in the South China Sea. The first is that Beijing is completely defensive: What the Chinese really want is to lay aside the sovereignty question and continue business as usual, perhaps including the joint exploitation of resources in contested areas. Chinese officials have often stated this as their aim. The exceptionally expansive claim Beijing makes to some (unspecified) fo

India, Vietnam And Eurasian Economic Union Deepen Economic Integration – Analysis ( Source- Eurasia Review/ Author- Dr. Rajaram Panda)

Logo of The Eurasia Economic Union Source- Eurasia Review Author- Dr. Rajaram Panda Since the launch of Doi Moi (Renovation) in 1986, Vietnam has leapfrogged from a centrally planned economy to a market-driven one and has undertaken comprehensive reforms to make the economy market-friendly. The various market-oriented reforms have helped encourage competition among economic units, which have helped boost the nation’s gross national wealth. There were three thrust areas where the reforms were focussed: improvement of institutions with enabling motives, stabilisation of macroeconomic situations and pro-active integration into the regional and world economy. In a world of increasing economic interdependence, the economies of nations are so closely interlinked that any adverse development in one country can have crippling effect on other nations. This calls for constant coordination of policies that serve the common goals – that is fostering economic prosperity across nat

Is Russia's Lethal PAK-FA Fighter Superior to America's F-22 and F-35? ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Zachary Keck)

Sukhoi PAK-FA ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Alex Beltukov) Source- The National Interest Author- Zachary Keck Russia’s new fifth-generation fighter jet will be superior to its American counterparts in every way, a senior Russian military official has said. According to Russian state media outlets, Viktor Bondarev, Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief, said that the PAK FA will be able to outduel America’s F-22 and F-35 fifth generation fighter jets. Speaking of the PAK FA to reporters last week, Bondarev said that “It will be in no way worse than similar American planes such as F-22 and F-35. Rather, it will outperform them in almost all parameters.” He went on to explain that "the features given to it by its designers allow it to outperform all similar planes that already exist or will soon appear abroad." This includes its ability to fly at speeds surpassing Mach 2, however, Bondarev emphasized that other features will ultimatel

Vietnam’s Navy Adds 2 Russian-Design Missile Ships ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Prashanth Parameswaran)

Russian Project 1241 Tarantul Class ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Meiciu K2) Source- The Diplomat Author- Prashanth Parameswaran The Vietnamese Navy received two indigenously built, Russian-design missile ships on Tuesday to enhance its maritime defenses. The two Project 1241 Tarantul-class or Molniya corvettes, built in Vietnam at the Ba Son shipyard under the General Department of Military Industry following a Russian technology contract inked a few years ago, were officially handed over to the Vietnam People’s Navy (VPN) during a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh on Tuesday. The ships, coded HQ 379 and HQ 380, are among the six ordered by the navy, with the first two – HQ 377 and HQ 378 – delivered last year. The vessels are equipped with 16 Uran-E missiles of 130 km in range, two AK-630 ship-borne artillery systems, and an AK-176M automatic gun with. Their endurance is 10 days and they can travel at a maximum speed of almost 70 km/hour in standard conditio

Unequal Partners: China and Russia in Eurasia ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Anita Inder Singh)

Image credits- RT.com Source- The Diplomat Author- Anita Inder Singh Recent strategic shifts by China and Russia simultaneously – and paradoxically – mark closer ties, challenges to the U.S., an unequal partnership, and rivalry between them in Eurasia. The shifts were confirmed last month. On May 8, Chinese President Xi Jinping was the guest of honor at Moscow’s Victory Parade; a few days later, on May 11, China and Russia began their first joint naval drill in the Mediterranean Sea. The ten-day exercise displayed their power and cooperation in the American-dominated Mediterranean, around which neither Russia nor China has any coastline. They were contesting America’s primacy in international waters, which connect Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Beijing signaled that China could flex its naval muscles in distant European waters, indeed in “NATO’s lake,” just as the U.S. does in the Asia-Pacific. China and Russia have much in common. Both are authoritarian stat

Could the South China Sea Spark the Deadliest Conflict of Our Time? ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Graeme Dobell)

Image source- IISS.org  Source- The National Interest Author- Graeme Dobell In his undergraduate years the U.S. Defense Secretary, Ashton Carter, did a double major in Medieval History and Physics. It was perfect preparation for Asia today—arcane and complex history speaking directly to modern mysteries. At the 14th Asia Security Summit in Singapore,  the Shangri-La dialogue, Carter was two-thirds of the way through his text before he got to any substantive discussion of China or the South China Sea. It was like those medieval theological debates where the Devil was a major factor in discussion, even if it wasn’t named. As Malaysia’s Defense Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, commented later: the South China Sea was the elephant in the room. Hishammuddin delivered the starkest line of the first morning, worrying that the confrontation in the South China Sea could “escalate into one of the deadliest conflicts of our time or our history.” The Physics discipline cam

Why China’s Air Force Needs Russia's SU-35 ( Source- The Diplomat / Authors- Jesse Sloman & Lauren Dickey)

Sukhoi Su-35S engine ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Julian Herzog) Source- The Diplomat Authors- Jesse Sloman & Lauren Dickey Last April, Chinese airplane manufacturer Shenyang Aircraft Corporation surprised military observers by test flying its new J-11D fighter jet, an upgraded version of the J-11, China’s indigenous copy of the Russian Su-27. The D-model J-11 is believed to include such advanced features as an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, a relocated infrared search and track (IRST) system, and the expanded use of composite materials to reduce the plane’s weight and radar signature. This first flight indicates that the J-11D is further along in its development cycle than many experts predicted and is poised to provide a new and deadly addition to the growing fighter fleet of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). Despite the evident maturity of the J-11D program, the Chinese military nevertheless appears to also be goi