by Captain John Konrad (gCaptain) Early this month the House Committee on Intelligence held a panel to investigate China’s global plans for military expansion. Of particular interest to gCaptain readers are the comments by Captain James Fanell, a fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, who warns that a major naval disaster looms on the … [Read more...]
China’s Naval Master Plan: A Military Threat In The Pacific And Beyond
(This is the first in a series of columns Bloomberg is publishing on China's effort to supplant the U.S. as the world's pre-eminent geopolitical power.) by Hal Brands (Bloomberg) I wrote a column recently about how a longstanding assumption of America’s China policy -- that economic integration between the two countries is an unalloyed good -- has now been overtaken by … [Read more...]
U.S. Navy Weighs Passage Through Taiwan Strait
by Phil Stewart (Reuters) - The United States is considering sending a warship through the Taiwan Strait, U.S. officials say, in a move that could provoke a sharp reaction from Beijing at a time when Sino-U.S. ties are under pressure from trade disputes and the North Korean nuclear crisis. A U.S. warship passage, should it happen, could be seen in Taiwan as a fresh sign of … [Read more...]
Top 10 Reasons Why The US Merchant Marine Is Failing
by Capt. John Konrad (gCaptain) In 2018 politicians, presidents and corporate leaders spend a considerable amount of time in front of cameras and talking with journalists but this isn't just a stroke of ego, it's to garner political will. Conversely, the US Merchant Marine is drowning because it has no political will. The question is why? "Merchant Mariners have written one of … [Read more...]
U.S. Pacific Command Changes Name in Symbolic Nod to India
By Idrees Ali PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii, May 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. military on Wednesday renamed its Pacific Command the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, in a largely symbolic move underscoring the growing importance of India to the Pentagon, U.S. officials said. U.S. Pacific Command, which is responsible for all U.S. military activity in the greater Pacific region, has about 375,000 … [Read more...]