Journal of International Studies

The good folks at the  Jamestown Foundation  here in Washington D.C. have produced what is clearly the world’s authoritative guide detailing the strategic rationale, development, and ramifications concerning a piece of Chinese military hardware Diplomat  readers know all too well: The DF-21D, or the “carrier-killer” as it is known in the popular press. Authored by what I would consider the world’s leading expert on the subject (the DF-21D is the world’s first anti-ship ballistic missile or ASBM) and the first to recognize its importance in modern warfare,  Dr. Andrew Erickson has developed a one of a kind assessment  tracing the missiles’ origins, development, possible uses in combat conditions, as well as its overall implications for the U.S. Navy. Simply stated: the report is a must-read for China hands interested in Asia-Pacific security matters. A brief description of the weapon itself clearly demonstrates why there is so much hype surrounding it: ...

Is the South Korean Navy simply an expensive trifle? Last week, Kyle Mizokami  argued that the Republic of Korea Navy is “Impressive … and Pointless.”  Mizokami makes the nutshell case against South Korea’s  shift to the sea : "In the country’s rush to embrace its destiny as a seagoing nation, South Korea has prematurely shifted resources from defending against a hostile North Korea to defeating exaggerated sea-based threats from abroad. Seoul is in the midst of a strategic shift that has shorted defenses against the North and put its forces in harm’s way." There’s no doubt something to this argument.  The largest ships of the ROKN can, in context of the current state of disengagement between North and South Korea, look like little more than floating targets. South Korea treated the sinking of the Cheonan with admirable restraint.  Imagine, however, if an over-excited North Korean sub skipper decided to try to torpedo Dokdo or Seojong the Great?...

Japan’s Defense Ministry has announced that 34,000 troops from the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) will practice island storming drills starting next month. According to  The Yomiuri Shimbun , from November 1 to November 18, troops from the Ground, Maritime and Air Self-Defense Forces will perform an island landing drill on Okinawa Prefecture.  An AFP report said that destroyers and F-2 fighter jets would simultaneously conduct live fire drills. The   Yomiuri Shimbun  report, which cited a statement from Japan’s Defense Ministry, said the purpose of the drill was to enhance the SDF’s ability to protect disputed islands in the East China Sea from Chinese intrusions. However, Okinawa Prefecture is far away from the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands, which are at the heart of the ongoing dispute between China and Japan. The AFP report, meanwhile, quoted the Joint Staff of the SDF as saying that the drill is aimed at “maintaining and improving the joint operational abilit...

The past few weeks have seen reports that a  top Chinese official  visited Japan to discuss how to alleviate tensions in the Senkaku/Diaoyu dispute. Beijing’s secret envoy is said to have met with a  high-level official from the Japanese Foreign Ministry. Rumors suggest that the two governments may have exchanged envoys on the islands dispute several times over the last few months. Beijing and Tokyo had, apparently, hoped to work towards a bilateral summit on the Senkaku/Diaoyu, although they failed to find sufficient common ground to make that possible in their last exchange. But the fact that the two states are not proceeding quickly to a more public forum should not distress us too mightily: there are at least three good reasons why we should hope that secret diplomacy between China and Japan continues, and why it may be particularly crucial in a conflict like the Senkaku/Diaoyu dispute.  First, as has been obvious since 2010, the dispute over the Senk...

In one of the best pieces on the subject in recent years, the  New York Times  magazine  released  what can best be described as an interactive feast regarding the delicate subject of the South China Sea. Beneath all the interactive maps, previously unreleased photos and eye-catching video were some interesting aspects of China’s strategy regarding this disputed area that is sure to be of interest to Asia hands. The article itself is certainly worth your time just for the sheer artistic quality in which this important issue is covered. Sticking to the business at hand, there was one specific section that caught my eye. The piece notes comments from PLA General Zhang Zhaozhong regarding what is being called China’s “cabbage strategy.” The  Times  describes it as “surrounding a contested area with so many boats — fishermen, fishing administration ships, marine surveillance ships, navy warships” that the disputed island is essentially wrapped like lay...

A mid-week summary of some major defense and security developments around the Asia-Pacific region: The U.S. will likely be  selling Patriot Anti-Tactical Missiles   along with equipment, parts, training, and support to South Korea. The sale will bring in US$404 million in revenue. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency  notified  Congress of the sale. Continuing along with South Korea,  Foreign Policy ’s Gordon Lubold explores the possibility that South Korea may be stealing U.S. military secrets. Lubold presents the evidence and explores the impact this might have on the future of the U.S.-South Korea "blood alliance.” The  South China Morning Post   reports on the PLAN's reactions to the U.S. Navy's advanced Ford-class aircraft carriers and the Zumwalt destroyers. The Ford-class will officially succeed the current-generation of Nimitz-class carriers. One PLAN analyst said that these new ships "show that China's shipbuilding tech...

On Wednesday Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw a snap drill testing the readiness of its nuclear deterrent  Ria Novosti reported , citing Russian officials. A Putin spokesperson confirmed that the drill had taken place. “The exercise involved launches of ballistic missiles, drills by air defense and missile defense units,” Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson said, adding that all the missiles hit their intended targets. Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed the exercise in a statement. “Missile Forces conducted launches of a RS-12M Topol ballistic missile from the Plesetsk space center [in northwestern Russia] and a RS-20V Voyevoda ballistic missile from the Dombarovsky missile site [in central Russia],” the statement said. The targets the missiles hit were located in the far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula  located in between  Japan and Alaska. Stars & Stripes   reports that  in addition to these ICBM, Ballistic Missiles were launch...

I’ve  argued before  in  The Diplomat  that the relationship between India and Japan is the one to watch in the Asia-Pacific in the 21st century. It makes good strategic sense. It brings together Asia’s largest and Asia’s richest democracies. It brings together two states who share a similarly strained relationship with China: economic dependence combined with strategic distrust.  For the most part, this hasn’t been a difficult argument to sell in Tokyo or New Delhi; most diplomats, experts, and strategic thinkers I’ve spoken to in the two cities seem to think that a serious strategic rapprochement has been long overdue. The tragedy of Cold War great power politics kept the two countries apart through the latter half of the 20th century, and on the economic front, things were timed poorly–Japan’s bubble burst just as India liberalized its economy. After a half-century of missed opportunities, the two states have really begun working together. The ...

One major Asian navy was conspicuously absent from this month's festivities in Sydney: the Taiwan Navy. Did Taipei slight Canberra? Should we fault President Ma Ying-jeou for pique, or apathy, or thoughtlessless? Nope, and nope. You've heard it all before. Beijing's wrath would have been fearful to behold had a Taiwanese man-of-war made port for the fleet review. Navies are services sovereign states use to protect their interests. Had Taiwan been allowed to take part in the maritime congress, it would have appeared as though participating governments were affording the island diplomatic recognition. And that, of course, would never do. Chinese officials go to absurd lengths to maintain a consistent posture toward the island. We even had a furor in the hinterlands of northeast Georgia a few years back. When preparing for a conference of nonproliferation NGOs, an intern dutifully made a nameplate for a Taiwanese professor indicating that he was from, well,  Taiwan . M...

Achtung! At long last I have assumed my proper rank as  Professor-Doktor (spoken in my best Colonel Klink accent). Or so my Lufthansa boarding pass told me upon departing Boston last Tuesday. No one does titles better than Germans. I'm on my first visit to Germany in twenty years, and my first ever to united Berlin. The Wall still stood in 1986, when my University of Regensburg class made the bus ride through East Germany into West Berlin. That marked the Naval Diplomat's first experience hobnobbing with godless commies. It left an impression. I clambered aboard another aircraft so soon after Sydney in order to address a conference on "Maritime Security and Europe" (at the Maritim Hotel, fittingly). My sacred trust was to analyze the strategic features of the Indian Ocean basin, mainly the Malacca, Bab el-Mandeb, and Hormuz straits. Our European friends appear eager to discern how they can advance the cause of security in maritime Asia beyond dispatching nav...