A version of this piece originally appeared in the Center for International Maritime Security’s NextWar blog.
Thirteen years ago America woke up to the Long War. Sept. 10 was a sadly appropriate time for the President Barack Obama to address the continuation of the conflict, now opposing the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS or ISIL). Read More
A sailors hits golf balls in an inflatable driving range during a Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) event in the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in 2012. US Navy Photo
Golfers may not realize it, but they have a keen understanding of combined arms.
I’m not a particularly good golfer myself. Some may suggest what I do is not actually “playing golf,” but I know well enough not to use a putter in the sand trap or use my sand wedge from the tee and certainly not buy any club that claims to cover all those situations. Read More
Man Transportable Robot System “Talon” Mark 2 approaches a suspected bomb maker’s building during an exercise. US Navy Photo
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has constructed a neuromorphic device—the functioning structure of a mammalian brain—out of artificial materials. DARPA’s project, SyNAPSE (Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics) signals a new level for biomimicry in engineering. The project team included IBM, HRL, and their subcontracted universities. Read More
A good fighter does not stand in one place fending off blows, he moves around the ring. America’s Asian Pivot is merely a minor weight shift. America has been standing with a foot in Asia and Europe for over half a century; we need to step forward to the ring’s greatest area of potential: Africa.
Sailor with children during U.S. Africa Command’s 2012 Africa Partnership Station
[U.S. Navy Photo]
Any sense that America’s pivot toward Asia is a major policy change ignores the robust presence that already exists. In the June 2 post, Information Dissemination notes that the Navy’s shift to Asia started long before the pivot talk even began. With bases in Korea, Japan and Guam , the U.S. has no small military presence in the region. The Association of South East Asian Nations may not be as effective or as unified as NATO, but it is still an active and engaged institution of regional diplomacy. And the U.S. has a number of strong bilateral relationships, from Japan to Thailand to Australia. Those who think a pivot to the Western Pacific is a major policy change haven’t been watching policy. America has in the past, if not pivoted, at least kept glancing over its Pacific shoulder.
