Searching for Nelson’s Quote
Rising young U.S. Navy officer Stephen Decatur earned famous praise for ‘the most bold and daring act of the age’—or did he? Late in…
Joint and Coalition Tactical Networking: There’s an App for That!
Proceedings, July 2012 Downloading application software from online stores created by companies such as Apple has radically transformed the market for goods and services…
Code of Conduct in the South China Sea Undermined by ASEAN Disarray
For government officials and regional analysts following the security dialogues in Phnom Penh last week (9–13 July) there was good news and bad news.…
America’s Small Stick Diplomacy
We might rephrase Theodore Roosevelt’s famous saying about “big stick” diplomacy thusly: Speak softly and carry a small stick, and you will go far—provided…
An Unmanned Joint Strike Fighter?
CRYSTAL CITY, VIRGINIA — Three nautical miles from an amphibious assault ship, I toggled a small button labeled “STOVL,” or short take-off and vertical landing.…
Russian Ships to Syria
In late June, Russians reportedly dispatched two large landing ships full of marines to their naval base in Tartus, Syria. However one of the…
Opinion: Parochial Interests Threaten Biofuels
The U.S. Navy kicked of its annual Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises last Friday and will use the world’s largest naval exhibition to…
What Would Mahan Do?
“It seems demonstrable, therefore, that as commerce is the engrossing and predominant interest of the world to day . . . [t]he instrument for…
Stolen Valor Still an Option
The oath taken on commissioning or enlisting in the armed forces, begins, “I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” In…
Reagan Readied U.S. Warship for ’82 Falklands War
While publicly claiming neutrality between Argentina and the U.K. during the 1982 Falklands War, President Ronald Reagan’s administration had developed plans to loan a…
Syria’s Itchy Trigger Finger
On Friday Syria shot down a Turkish F-4. A statement the Syrian government released that night said: “Our air defenses confronted a target that penetrated…
Iran: Atomic and Underwater?
Reports in early June indicated that the Islamic Republic of Iran is in the early stages of developing nuclear-powered attack submarines, or SSNs. The…