Geopolitics – The Interview: Robert Kaplan

– The Diplomat – In his new book, The Revenge of Geography: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate, Robert Kaplan (Stratfor Global Intelligence) contends that current global conflicts, including wars, political instability, and clashes over religion, can be better understood and even forecasted through close examination of the maps that chart our world. In this Q&A, The National Bureau of Asian Research’s Abraham Denmark asks Kaplan how this theory relates to the Asia-Pacific and what challenges geography will present for the United States’ policy toward the region.

US Navy – Beastly Drone Sub May Test Next-Gen Undersea Sensors

– Wired – One of the largest unmanned submarines ever built is finally performing sea trials. But don’t expect the U.S. Navy, which dreams of undersea drones that can span oceans, to proclaim the Proteus its drone sub of the future. Instead, Proteus’ manufacturers want to work with the Navy to test the software, sensors and power systems that will define those next-gen drone subs — and maybe use the Proteus as a stopgap solution until someone develops those long-range submarines.

Philippine Navy – Tension Between Philippines And China Grows

– Aviation Week – Drive fast enough down the well-built coastal road in Barangay Buenavista, a stone’s throw from the waters of Ulugan Bay on the Philippine island province of Palawan, and you might miss the doorstep for a future amphibious invasion force. Were China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and marine forces ever to be tasked with teaching the Philippines a “lesson,” much as Deng Xiaoping taught such a lesson to Vietnam and its former Soviet ally during a brief 1979 war, that coastal road provides a crucial western access that would put PLA mechanized forces about an hour north of Palawan’s capital of Puerto Princesa.