– Forbes – Robert D. Kaplan writes that “To understand the current pressures upon Europe from the east it is necessary to draw a map of energy pipelines.”

New York Times Magazine – The shell of a forsaken ship has become a battleground in a struggle that will shape the future of the South China Sea and, to some extent, the rest of the world.

– American Conservative – William Lind writes that America can win it—by staying out.

– Geopolitics / Middle East – Kerry’s Middle East Obsession – Robert D. Kaplan writes that John Kerry has made his choice. Chaos in the Middle East is more important to him than historic power shifts in Asia and Europe. Passion, rather than geopolitical vision, drives this secretary of state. And it is a very derivative passion that drives him: one that has its origin in media obsessions.

– Geopolitics / Syria – The Shadow Commander – Qassem Suleimani is the Iranian operative who has been reshaping the Middle East. Now he’s directing Assad’s war in Syria.

– Forbes – Robert D. Kaplan compares Iraq in 2003 to Syria today.

– Forbes – Robert D. Kaplan on the current state of affairs in Syria.

– US Naval War College Review – The law and operational practice of blockade were considered all but dead by many in the 1990s. However, in recent years, Israel has employed blockade twice: in 2006 against Hezbollah in south Lebanon and since then against Hamas in Gaza. The latter blockade, which will be the focus of this article, was instituted in January 2009 to prevent arms and other materials reaching Hamas and thereby to halt rocket attacks against Israeli territory.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – Eight nations—the United States included—have a geographically direct stake in the opening of the resource-rich Arctic. Increased international cooperation is a must.

– Stratfor – Robert D. Kaplan says the biggest question in international affairs has nothing to do with Syria or Iran going nuclear. It is has to do with the state of the Chinese economy, and the ability of China’s one-party system to navigate through an economic slowdown to a different growth model. China’s leaders will likely survive this trial. But what if they don’t? What if China faces a severe socio-economic crisis and attendant political one of an unforeseen magnitude? What would be the second-order geopolitical effects? If Syria explodes, it does so regionally. If China explodes, it does so globally.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – An oil-based piracy of unrivaled proportion—born in the corruption and crime of Nigeria—is hemorrhaging across the Gulf of Guinea.

– US Naval War College Review – This article examines the evolution—and the conceptual links to the present— of the theory and practice of commerce warfare from the seventeenth century to the eve of World War I.

– The Atlantic – Robert D. Kaplan says he was the 20th century’s greatest 19th-century statesman.

– US Naval War College Review – A review of economic warfare in World War I, with lessons that can be applied to today.

– New Yorker – Inside the White House debate over Syria.

– Economist – India is poised to become one of the four largest military powers in the world by the end of the decade. It needs to think about what that means.

– Economist – India’s lack of a strategic culture hobbles its ambition to be a force in the world

– The Atlantic – Amid the social and political transformations reshaping the Middle East, can Jordan’s Abdullah II, the region’s most pro-American Arab leader, liberalize his kingdom, modernize its economy, and save the country from capture by Islamist radicals?

– American Conservative – William Lind argues we need Beijing as an ally against anarchy.

– The National Interest – Fascinating article by James Webb on how Congress is dangerously absent without leave in the realm of our foreign policy.

– Air Force – An air war would likely be tougher there than what the US saw in Serbia or Libya.

– Time – Very interesting essay by Chuck Spinney on the complexity of the terrorism situation in Africa, and how the US underestimates it…to our strategic disadvantage.

– Washington Post – Bitter maritime disputes between China and its neighbors have recently sent fighter jets scrambling, ignited violent protests, and seen angry fishermen thrown in jail. But beneath all the bellicose rhetoric and threatening posture, China also has been waging a quiet campaign, using ancient documents, academic research, maps and technical data to bolster its territorial claims.

– Geopolitics / Israel – The Party Faithful – The settlers move to annex the West Bank—and Israeli politics. An interesting view of the future of Israeli – and thus Middle Eastern politics – and the implications.

– New York Times – David Brooks’ very interesting insight into the choice of the next SecDef: “As the federal government becomes a health care state, there will have to be a generation of defense cuts that overwhelm anything in recent history…As this sort of crunch gradually tightens, Medicare will be the last to go. Spending on things like Head Start, scientific research and defense will go quicker. These spending cuts will transform America’s stature in the world, making us look a lot more like Europe today. This is why Adm. Mike Mullen called the national debt the country’s biggest security threat. Chuck Hagel has been nominated to supervise the beginning of this generation-long process of defense cutbacks. If a Democratic president is going to slash defense, he probably wants a Republican at the Pentagon to give him political cover, and he probably wants a decorated war hero to boot.”