Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy Sailors wave ROK and U.S. flags during a port visit of USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) in Busan, Republic of Korea, Sept. 23, 2022. US Navy Photo
Some South Koreans are questioning how well the U.S. would defend Seoul against a nuclear attack, two members of its National Assembly said Thursday.
The “Korean public is less confident about the alliance” now as Pyongyang continues to test cruise and ballistic missiles and China rapidly increases its nuclear arsenal, said...
Royal Australian Navy submarine HMAS Sheean arrives alongside during a logistics port visit of Hobart, Tasmania on April 1, 2021. Royal Australian Navy Photo
Australians should now work shoulder to shoulder with Americans in mastering the building of nuclear submarines while their countrymen serve on deployed U.S. Navy attack submarines to master their operations at sea, two members of the House Armed Services Committee said Friday.
Australia has no history of nuclear energy and no industrial...
Kremlin
The harsh sanctions already imposed on Russian businesses, financial institutions and individuals following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine are “a rolling program” that can be ratcheted up as events unfold, a senior United Kingdom diplomat said Tuesday.
Speaking at an online Wilson Center forum, Michael Tatham, the U.K.’s deputy ambassador to the U.S., said Washington, London, the European Union and Pacific partners leveling sanctions was “coordinated, synchronized and broadly...
https://news.usni.org/2022/03/01/u-k-diplomat-sanctions-on-russia-can-be-increased-if-necessary
Washington needs to recognize and adapt to Indo-Pacific and European nations’ different security and economic interests in confronting Beijing, a panel of regional scholars said.
The United States “should never take any ally or partner for granted,” Andrew Oros, professor of political science at Washington College, said on Thursday. “There are real coordination problems” with U.S. Indo-Pacific allies Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines.
For example, “South Korea is now almost...
https://news.usni.org/2021/09/16/panel-u-s-must-adapt-to-allies-stance-toward-china-in-europe-asia
Paratroopers with 2nd battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, “Spartan Brigade,” conduct high-angle fires with their M777 155mm Howitzer during training at Yukon training area, Alaska, May 6, 2021. US Army Photo
Top security experts recently warned that Russia’s plan to remain the sole Arctic superpower is “worrisome and troublesome” and argued that ambition has economic and military implications far into the North Atlantic...
China’s drive to win political friends was stumbling over unmet trade expectations and mounting public debt, until the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on economies offered Beijing new possibilities in Europe, two foreign policy experts said Monday.
The 17 Central and Eastern European nations in a loose trade arrangement with Beijing – the Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries founded in 2012 — now may be less insistent on transparency in future agreements to spur...
https://news.usni.org/2020/04/21/covid-19-pandemic-giving-china-a-firmer-foothold-in-europe
A Chinook helicopter transports equipment around Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. US Army photo by Sgt. James Dansie.
The Taliban has shown no interest in cooperating with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to combat the COVID-19 pandemic spreading from Iran, creating the latest obstacle to peace, four regional experts said Monday.
The experts, speaking via ZOOM from around the globe, were part of a Woodrow Wilson Center Webcast: What’s Next for the Peace and Reconciliation Process in Afghanistan? A...
https://news.usni.org/2020/03/31/covid-19-presents-additional-obstacle-to-afghan-peace-process
USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) arrives at Commander, Republic of Korea Fleet base in Busan, the new home on March 12, 2016. US Navy Photo
WASHINGTON — South Koreans increasingly wonder whether the White House’s transactional approach to foreign relations means the United States will honor its commitment to come to their aid in a crisis, a panel of security experts said this week.
South Korea and other U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific, “worry what [the U.S.] transactional approach to allies” means in...
https://news.usni.org/2019/11/20/panel-south-korean-officials-concerned-with-ad-hoc-u-s-policy