Introduction In May 2018, the World Bank opened bidding to “all eligible firms from any country” on a $72.6 million submarine fiber-optic cable system that sought to enhance the Internet infrastructure of three Pacific island nations: the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati, and Nauru... MORE

Introduction In July, the US Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine (SSBN) visited South Korea for the first time since 1981. Not one, but two of the 560-foot-long warships—which carried a payload of 24 long-range Trident ballistic missiles—surfaced in South Korean waters (Korea JoongAn Daily, July 24, 2023).... MORE

Introduction In many ways, China’s history is one of water management. As Chinese historiographers often remark, the unique hydrological conditions within China led to the creation of three historical miracles: China, Chinese civilisation, and the Chinese people. In both ancient and modern times, Chinese rulers... MORE

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s visit to North Korea on July 25 to celebrate the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) self-proclaimed “victory” in the 1950–1953 Korean War has generated much speculation in the expert community (Lenta.ru, July 25). The DPRK has always been in... MORE

Since the countries of Central Asia gained independence in 1991, the Arab world has devoted most of its attention to the region promoting the revival of Islam and thereby promoting the fundamentalist Islam characteristic of much of the Arab East. The effort has prompted the... MORE

The decision to withdraw from the international arrangement guaranteeing the safety of grain exports from Ukrainian ports, announced in Moscow on July 17, signifies a significant effort to escalate non-kinetic hostilities to break the pattern of slow-moving defeat in this war of attrition. Russian President... MORE

Introduction In December of last year, China’s central government lifted its stringent “zero-COVID” restrictions, signaling to the public it shifted its principal policy objective from pandemic prevention measures to jump-starting China’s flagging economy (Japan Times, April 16). In the first quarter of 2023, the country... MORE

Introduction In July, the Barbie movie––an ostensibly apolitical and innocuous film––­­was banned by the Vietnamese Department of Cinema over real-world tensions between Vietnam and China. According to the state film council, the new Barbie movie was barred from the Vietnamese market over its inclusion of... MORE

Introduction Some Western analysts argue that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) use of the term “command of the air” belies outdated views of control of the air. The term is over a century old, and its original concept has been complicated by technological and... MORE

Introduction  Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUUF) has surfaced as an increasingly salient offshore threat in Southeast Asia that is leading to huge losses in government revenue, adversely impacting food security, contributing to widespread environmental damage, destabilizing inter-state relations, and spurring other transnational crimes. It... MORE