On June 28, a pair of suicide bombers (Rappler, June 29) struck a Philippine outpost, killing five and wounding nine.  It was the third suicide bombing in a year, in a country that had so far not had any, raising fears of increased Islamic State... MORE

Introduction The first half of 2019 has seen a steady procession of developments marking a closer alignment between the United States and Taiwan (also known as the Republic of China, or ROC). In May, a meeting was held between U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton... MORE

Introduction Beijing is preparing for a host of major meetings and anniversaries in the months ahead. The first of these will be the annual senior leadership summer retreat at the Beidaihe resort in early August, when current Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo members meet with... MORE

Editor’s note: Our previous two issues contained articles by Russell Hsiao that profiled institutions and methods employed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to cultivate influence in Japan (A Preliminary Survey of CCP Influence Operations in Japan, June 26, 2019) and in Singapore (A Preliminary... MORE

Introduction On July 24, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) issued its first new national defense white paper (NDWP) since 2015 (Xinhua). “China’s National Defense in a New Era”  attempts both to articulate a vision of global security in which China is a driving force... MORE

Editor’s note: This is the first part of a two-part article that addresses the efforts of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to deal more effectively with the challenges of mental health, which can have serious impacts on the morale and readiness of individual service members—and... MORE

On July 24, 2019, Russian and Chinese military planes flying together invaded Japanese and South Korean airspace only to encounter Korean fighters that shot at the Russian aircraft. The Russian contribution to this joint air patrol included an A-50 Beriev airborne radar, which can track... MORE

Mozambique: Islamic State Claims Reveal Little About Ansar al-Sunna Brian M. Perkins Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP)—which is comprised of a wing in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and one in Mozambique—has claimed responsibility for three attacks in Mozambique since its first reported... MORE

At the end of July, Tajikistan and China will hold joint military exercises in Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. These ostensibly anti-terrorist exercises will feature Tajikistani air, ground and air-defense forces. The composition of the Chinese contribution has not yet been announced (Avesta.tj, July 9). This... MORE

The Chinese Ministry of National Defense published a white paper yesterday, July 24, entitled “China’s National Defense in a New Era.” The document accuses the United States of pursuing “unilateral policies,” provoking “intensified competition among major countries,” increasing defense spending, developing destabilizing weapons, and undermining... MORE