As the Taliban rolled into Kabul on 15 August 2021 on motorcycles and in stolen Humvees, they clearly did not fear the one thing that had kept them at bay for years: air strikes. US forces had withdrawn; even “over-¬the-¬horizon” US air support had ceased—and the Afghan Air
The current Arctic security environment is poorly characterized. In the past few years, it has been termed “a return to great-power competition” and now is oscillating around discussions of hybrid threats or gray-zone warfare. Whatever the term, these are methods and means designed to
Our leaders cannot afford to look backward. Instead, we must understand the new operating environment and frame the threat landscape, which should incorporate three primary lines of effort (LOE): post-drawdown humanitarian aid and evacuations, confronting the GPC in theater, and countering nonstate
More Sr. Leader Perspectives...
The departure of American soldiers from Afghanistan has opened both positive possibilities and potential dangers for the security of Khost. Either way, the Afghans themselves are now in command of figuring out the next step along the road toward stability for the province. And while the political
There is a vast literature on grand strategy. However, it focuses on US grand strategy and on military means towards national security ends. This article taps into the burgeoning literature that examines the relationship between a globalized economy and the likelihood of war and peace. It seeks
Much of the existing literature also relies heavily on secondary sources or the small number of publicly available Thai strategic documents. In the absence of longitudinal exposure to Thai strategic thinkers and maritime security implementers, such analysis can suffer from important contextual gaps.
The government, military, and air force of Vietnam share US concerns about China’s expansionism and intrusion in the South China Sea and want greater US assistance in building their defense capacity and developing their military capabilities. While the growing partnership with the United
The concept of societal resilience must underpin US strategy toward East Asia, as strengthening allies’ and partners’ societies provides the best method for constraining China’s aggressive activities. The current US focus on Chinese capabilities has resulted in a misguided approach
The 12 years of French participation in this war have several distinct components. Operation Heracles corresponds to the French contribution to the American Operation Enduring Freedom, which aimed to overthrow the Taliban regime and to combat its insurgent forces, while Operation Pamir designated
China’s “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” (MSR) uses state-owned enterprises to build and operate port infrastructure along the MSR path. Under the broader Belt and Road Initiative, the government of the People’s Republic of China is clear about tying its economic and
Strategy is a master narrative, a story that we tell ourselves and others about how we see the world and our role in it; in other words, strategy communicates a particular worldview. Strategic worldviews exert a powerful influence on our priorities, policies, decisions, and activities and are best
More Features...
Although now a middle-power, Tokyo is no idle bystander but has championed a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) concept that seeks to promote the region’s stability and prosperity through upholding a rules-based international order. Moreover, Japan’s FOIP concept aligns well with US
The idea of the Indo-Pacific and the revival of the Quad is taken to be a balancing act to thwart the growing Chinese footprint in the region. Therefore, this article will first address the theoretical framework of balance of power, giving readers an overview about why nations balance. It will also
In a full-scale war, China would be decimated by the nuclear and conventionally superior US military. China has not dealt with any external crisis, nor has fought full-scale wars in modern history. A technological gap exists between the United States and China. They definitely are not in the same
The devastating COVID-19 pandemic further brought the Quad states together, shifting their agenda to more immediate goals of vaccine diplomacy, health crisis management, medical supply distribution, and collective plans to kickstart economic recovery. Nonetheless, amid the pandemic, tensions
Unlike the United States, China is heavily invested in African infrastructure, telecommunications, and government-to-government ties. What accounts for this investment? And has the United States underestimated Africa? There are several possible answers to this first question. First,
By all appearances, we are in a period of diminishing US engagement in East Africa, extending back to 2017. Perhaps the starkest example was in January 2021, when the United States followed through on the Donald Trump administration’s promise to remove all military personnel from Somalia.
A fairly large portion of Djibouti’s debt is from bilateral economic and infrastructural agreements with China. This has placed the country in a quagmire, and some consider the debt unrealistic to defray without providing China concessions. The challenge the country must deal with is the fact
This article begins with an overview of the current contours of Arctic migrations, followed by an analysis of their implications for national security. It then presents the need for augmented bilateral and multilateral research to address the security consequences of Arctic migrations within and
More Views...
As the Taliban continues to consolidate power in Afghanistan, it is inevitable that states and institutions will have to engage with it to provide Afghans access to humanitarian assistance. However, it must be noted that engagement merely reflects an understanding of power, but not legitimacy.
The Afghan Taliban, along with a lengthy list of global Islamist extremists, seemingly possess an overt, irrational fear of females. However, this fear is not just based on the secular phenomenon known in psychology as gynophobia, which is the general fear or dislike of women. Rather, it is more
This article examines the causes that led to such an fall of Afghanistan. Failure is characterized by two factors. The first is the failure of the mission on the military front. US government was being present and active in Afghanistan shortly after the 9/11 attacks, when Taliban refused to hand in
Fabio van Loon, a researcher and writer for the Consortium of Indo-Pacific Researchers, sat down with officials from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative in the United States (TECRO) to discuss cross-strait security challenges, military investments, and the US–Taiwan relationship.
As the international community voiced justifiable outrage regarding the human rights violations in Myanmar, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) used the crisis to further its economic, foreign policy, and military interests by throwing a lifeline to the embattled military junta.
Creating scalable, integrated networks with adaptive, resilient, and collaborative properties is the key to covering the gaps and seams of our decision loops and to deterring conflict by convincing our adversaries that achieving their objectives by force is not possible. This is the change that will
Between having too many enemies to fight and developing its military technology toward deterring enemies instead of engaging and destroying them, China is unlikely to engage in direct military action with the West. It is also unlikely the West would start a war with China unless it is forced into
The gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado in Mozambique is a hotbed of insurgency and violence. Homegrown extremists have held the province hostage and contrary to the interests of the Mozambique government. It is challenging to establish whether there is a genuine presence of partiality. As events
More Commentaries...
Book Review: From Rebel to Ruler: One Hundred Years of the Chinese Communist Party, by Tony Saich. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2021, 560 pp.
Book Review: Japan’s Evolving Security Policy: Militarisation within a Pacifist Tradition, by Kyoko Hatakeyama. London: Routledge, 2021, E-book: 178pp.
Book Review: Orchestration: China’s Use of Economic Statecraft from Europe to Asia, by James Reilly. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021. 284 pp. ISBN 978-0197526347.
Book Review: Bloody Sixteen: The USS Oriskany and Air Wing 16 during the Vietnam War, by Peter Fey. Lincoln: Potomac Books, 2018. 393 pp.
Book Reviews of Dark Skies: Space Expansionism, Planetary Geopolitics, and the Ends of Humanity, by Daniel Deudney. Oxford University Press, 2020. 464 pp. ISBN: 9780190903343; and War in Space: Strategy, Spacepower, Geopolitics, by Bleddyn E. Bowen. Edinburgh University Press, 2020.
More Book Reviews...
Traditionally, power is measured by states’ ability to coerce using hard power; however, the diffusion of power largely due to increased interdependence and advanced technology development has rendered these traditional sources of power less effective in achieving desired outcomes. Today, it
First, this article discusses openness and selective US interests in an openness strategy. Second, recognizing that power comes from many sources, this article discusses leveraging the diplomatic, information, economic, then military (DIME) instruments of power to address China’s rise and
A selective engagement strategy in East Asia requires diplomatic and economic cooperation and confrontation, as well as information and military competition. This article will provide a background on China’s growing influence in East Asia, outline a grand strategy of selective engagement, and
The United States must utilize a new source of power to address the China dilemma: its ability to develop and influence liberal multilateral institutions. This grand strategy uses diplomacy to leverage liberal cooperative security and financial institutions to both bound and reshape China’s
More AC&S; Commentaries
This article examines, first, Military-Civil Fusion’s origins and organizational framework, along with its execution today under President Xi Jinping. The analysis documents key economic and political interactions among MCF’s various stakeholders. Additionally, the article uses as an
This article provides a recommended definition of lawfare, contrasts the United States’ and China’s use of lawfare in the South China Sea, and discusses potential options for the United States’ strategic legitimization and operationalization of lawfare.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States has arguably exercised the most powerful global military imbalance the world has ever seen. This domination; however, is perceived to be fading in the wake of a new possible contender. The tension and likelihood of conflict between the United
More Cadet Perspectives
The proliferation of space technologies to middle and regional powers raises new questions concerning contemporary international politics and the likelihood of war. Since China launched its infamous 2007 antisatellite missile test, the United States has grown increasingly concerned about the number
More Sci-fi as Strategy
See what other Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs readers and website visitors have to say. Visit the Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs on Facebook and Twitter.
600 Chennault Circle, Bldg 1405, Rm. 143 Maxwell AFB, AL 36112
Subscribe to JIPA
The views and opinions expressed or implied in JIPA are those of the authors and should not be construed as carrying the official sanction of the Department of Defense, Air Force, Air Education and Training Command, Air University, or other agencies or departments of the US government or their international equivalents. See our Publication Ethics Statement.
