Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- JesseW900 Source- The National Interest Author- Gordon G. Chang On Friday, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the Chinese central bank, reversed course and set the renminbi on an upward path. That followed three straight days of devaluation that shook global stock, currency, and commodity markets, sending them downward. Friday’s reversal looks responsible. Nonetheless, the PBOC’s actions last week show policy disarray in the Chinese capital. The net result is that Beijing rattled the world, ruined its reputation for stable management, and did almost nothing to help China’s faltering economy. The daily devaluations follow months of government statements that the central bank would keep the currency stable. Every trading morning, 15 minutes before the 9:30 opening bell, central bank officials announce the day’s reference rate against the U.S. dollar. The renminbi, informally known as the yuan, is then allowed to rise or fall 2

Chinese Yuan coin ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Liamjiao) Source- The National Interest Author- Samuel Rines In the late 20th century and the first decade of the 21st, Alan Greenspan led a Fed that—in retrospect—kept monetary policy loose for an exceedingly long period of time. Inflation was tame, and wage pressures were nonexistent due to the acceleration of global competition for jobs, and the relocation of American manufacturing jobs to China. Seeing none of the typical indicators of an overheated economy, low interest rates seemed a reasonable means to spur job creation and spark some wage inflation. The end result was a housing bubble. And housing created the type of low or noncontestable jobs that were impossible to find in other sectors of the economy. Housing construction jobs were easy transitions from the manufacturing floor, and they could not be taken offshore easily—they were China proof. But the housing bubble burst in spectacular fashion. The in

      Wishing all my brothers and sisters of this great country a very Happy Independence day

USAF F-22 Raptor ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- USAF) Source- The National Interest Author- James Hasik The idea hasn’t gotten beyond the Duffel Blog and this column, but what if the USAF had long ago dropped the F-35A? As I noted last month, had the Pentagon foregone developing a wholly new fighter jet, the $100 billion it has spent to date on the F-35 project would have bought about 740 Eurofighter Typhoons. Euro-anything, of course, is hardly the USAF’s style, and the War Department hasn’t bought a French fighter since 1918. Doing so today is about as likely as Rob Farley getting a “Friend of the Air Force” award from General Welsh. So what else might the USAF have done? As a first-order vignette in this alternative history, let’s assume that former Defense Secretary Robert Gates wouldn’t have ended the F-22 program in 2009 at 187 aircraft. That said, the answer was never just a lot more F-22s. The first problem is procurement and operating costs. The US

USS Gerald R. Ford class Aircraft Carrier ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- US Navy) Source- The National Interest Author- Zachary Keck Despite the proliferation of precision-guided ballistic and cruise missiles, aircraft carriers are far from obsolete. That was the message Vice Admiral Mike Shoemaker, commander of Naval Air Forces, sought to deliver this week. Writing in a commentary piece on DOD Buzz, Shoemaker argued that: “Today, more than ever, U.S. national interests require the speed, endurance, flexibility and autonomous nature of the U.S. Navy’s nuclear powered aircraft carrier, which deploys, operates and is prepared to fight as part of a Carrier Strike Group (CSG).” He added: “Operationally, the combined strength of the CSG remains vastly greater than the sum of its parts. As a complex, joint force multiplier, with command and control and organic logistical capabilities, there exists no comparable way to quickly generate the effects crucial to

Image credits- Oleg Zabielin Source- The Diplomat Author- Rohan Joshi On August 8, 2015, Kabul witnessed its deadliest day since the 2001 U.S. invasion, when a series of attacks in the city left over 50 dead and hundreds injured. A suicide bomber dressed in police uniform detonated explosives outside the National Police Academy that resulted in almost 30 deaths. Then, a truck laden with explosives was detonated, killing 15 people and injuring over 200. Finally, a commando-style assault on Camp Integrity, a NATO military facility killed 10 people, including a U.S. soldier. The attacks in Kabul come at a time when “peace negotiations” between the Afghan government and the Taliban are in a precarious position. Just a few days prior to the second round of talks between Kabul and the Taliban, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) and President Ghani’s office confirmed that Mullah Muhammad Omar, the reclusive leader of the Taliban, ha

Indonesian warship KRI Patimura entering Port Blair for joint exercises with the Indian navy  ( Image credits- Indian Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Prashanth Parameswaran ndia wants to support the development of Indonesia’s military and defense industry, the Indonesian Ministry of Defense (MoD) noted August 10. Following a meeting between Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu and India’s ambassador to Indonesia, Gurjit Singh, on August 10, the MoD said the defense partnership between the two countries would focus on two key areas. Both of these were touched on when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Indonesian president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo last year in Myanmar. The first area was a general joint commitment by the two countries to enhance maritime security for mutual and global benefit. This is already an area of focus, with both countries engaging in coordinated patrols as well as joint bilateral and multilateral exercises in surrounding waters.

Image source- Flickr / MEA India Source- The Diplomat Author- Harsh V. Pant Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) later this week has once again brought to focus India’s changing role in the Middle East. This will be the first visit by an Indian prime minister to the UAE in 34 years. Then-prime minister Indira Gandhi visited the Emirates in 1981. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was to travel to the UAE in March 2013, but the visit was cancelled at the last minute. India’s policy toward the Middle East has often been viewed through the prism of Indian–Iranian relations. The international community, and the West in particular, has been obsessed with New Delhi’s ties to Tehran, while missing India’s much more substantive simultaneous engagement with Arab Gulf states and Israel. India’s engagements with Arab states in the Middle East have gained momentum in the last few years, even as Iran continued to hog the limelight. India

Mahendra Rajapakse ( Source- The Presidency of Sri Lanka) Source- The Diplomat Author- Sudha Ramachandran On August 17, Sri Lanka will go to the polls to elect a new parliament. While the electoral contest is primarily between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)-led United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the United National Party (UNP)-led United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG), it is former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s bid to return to power as prime minister that has hogged the media spotlight. Seven months ago Rajapaksa lost his quest for a third successive term as president when his former health minister, Maithripala Sirisena defeated him in the presidential election. Rajapaksa’s ouster was widely described as the end of the Rajapaksa era in Sri Lankan politics. In fact, that era may not be quite finished yet – Rajapaksa is eyeing a comeback as prime minister. His reasons for doing so are not hard to fathom. Rajapaksa and his family benefited en

Iskander Missile  ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- A Savin) Source- The National Interest Author- Zachary Keck Saudi Arabia wants to buy a short-range ballistic missile system from Russia, the Kingdom’s top diplomat says. Speaking in Moscow this week, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said, "Saudi Arabia is set to intensify relations with Russia in all the spheres, including in the military field.” He added: “Intensive contacts are taking place between the military delegations and specialists from both countries and a wide range of intended types of armaments from Russia are being discussed, including Iskander missile systems.” According to Russian state-owned media, “The Iskander tactical ballistic missile system includes a launcher, a loader-transporter, a routine maintenance vehicle, a command post vehicle, an information post, an ammunition equipment set and training aids.” As Robert Farley has noted on The National Interest, th