– BBC – The pace of diplomacy over the division of the Arctic is speeding up, with Russia making the running.
Geopolitics / Arctic – Nuclear Power
– Geopolitics / Arctic – Nuclear Power – Could the Arctic become a battleground over control of large reserves of oil and gas thought to lie under the Arctic Sea, or will there be co-operation in the polar region? This will be a question for politicians and experts from around the world as they meet in Moscow.
Indian Navy – Indian Navy gets two fast attack craft vessels
– Deccan Chronicle – The Indian Navy today enhanced its might on Goa shore with induction of two fast attack craft vessels.
US Navy – Navy finalizes plans for U.S. military buildup on Guam
– Stars and Stripes – The U.S. Navy firmed up plans Tuesday for a military buildup on Guam that could lead to a historic shift in military forces in the Pacific.
Afghanistan – Bob Woodward book details Obama battles with advisers over exit plan for Afghan war
– Washington Post – President Obama urgently looked for a way out of the war in Afghanistan last year, repeatedly pressing his top military advisers for an exit plan that they never gave him, according to secret meeting notes and documents cited in a new book by journalist Bob Woodward.
US Marines – Marines find gender useful as a weapon in Afghanistan
– San Diego Union Tribune – Forty female Marines volunteered to go to the highly segregated southern Pashtun region to try to connect with the half of the population inaccessible to male Marines.
US Navy – What's New About the AirSea Battle Concept?
– US Naval Institute Proceedings – Four naval strategists take a look back at Navy-Air Force cooperation in the past to explain all the buzz surrounding this latest strategy.
US Marines – Marines Could Fly CTOL JSF
– Defense Technology International – The US Marine Corps could make greater use of the Air Force’s F-35A variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, as delays and a major review cast more doubt on the feasibility of meeting a late-2012 IOC date with the F-35B short take-off, vertical landing variant.
US Marines – Senate May Finally Sink Marines’ Swimming Tank
– Wired – Is the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle about to be terminated by Congress?
Geopolitics / Arctic – Unfreezing Arctic Assets
– Wall Street Journal – A bloc of countries above the 45th parallel is poised to dominate the next century. Welcome to the New North.
Geopolitics / Environment – Developing countries: Better off green than gold
– Miami Herald – General Anthony Zinni writes that a recent study by the Center for a New American Security examined how environmental degradation, poverty, migration, conflict, weak societal institutions and failed states form a feedback loop. It found that loss of “green” natural resources, such as forests, fresh water, fish and fertile soils, can play a significant role in driving instability and conflict.
Afghanistan – What’s Inside a Taliban Gun Locker?
– New York Times – CJ Chivers, working with the US Marines, looks at the weapons the Taliban use.
US Navy – Navy sidelines coastal patrol boats in Persian Gulf
– Virginian Pilot – The Navy has sidelined its fleet of coastal patrol boats operating out of Bahrain after inspections revealed “significant structural damage,” and has limited the operations of five patrol boats homeported at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek.
Chinese Navy – Asia's maritime security is all at sea
– The Australian – Tensions between China and Japan are a worrying reminder that Asia’s maritime security order is under dangerous strain.
Thanks to Cris for the link!
Royal Navy – Defence review: 'Carriers give politicians options – not dead ends'
– Daily Telegraph – At the heart of rows over the defence review is the cost of equipment – but a balanced Navy, led by new aircraft carriers, could help preserve Britain’s standing in the world
US Navy – AirSea Battle
– Air Force – A new operational concept looks to prepare the US and its allies to deter or defeat Chinese power.
US Marines – Hovering at a precipice
– Armed Forces Journal – The Marine Corps has embarked upon a comprehensive overhaul of its aviation force that is scheduled to culminate in 15 years with the replacement of every airframe currently in service.
Wargaming – War Games
– New York Times Magazine – Why the most popular cultural depictions of America’s current wars are video games.
Chinese Navy – Doubts over China's 'wonder weapon'
– Asia Times – Among all of Beijing’s options to challenge US naval supremacy, the weapon that sends chills down China’s opponents’ spines is what is regarded as a Wunderwaffe, or wonder weapon, the Dong Feng 21D, the world’s first anti-ship ballistic missile. If the assessments of observers prove correct, China’s wonder weapon is to make its way into history books – with it, China would be able to take on the US Navy’s aircraft carriers, the pride of the US military.
Russian Navy – Russian, French warships to exercise in Atlantic
– RIA Novosti – Russia’s Pyotr Veliky nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser will take part in a joint exercise with the French Latouche-Treville anti-submarine frigate this week.
Editorial Note – Facebook Page for NOSI
NOSI now has a Facebook page, which will contain copies of the posts on this site. The big difference is that on Facebook, you will be able to comment on each post if you wish. Feel free to join (or Like) the page and let me know what you think: NOSI Facebook Page.
Also, please note to accommodate this new feature, I have tweaked the template for each post slightly. Starting today, to read the article described in the post, you may click on either the title of the article in the title of the post, or you may click on the name of the source of the article.
Piracy – U.S. forces board pirate-captured vessel, seize control
– CNN – U.S. Marines boarded and seized control Thursday of a German-owned vessel that had been captured by pirates the day before off the coast of Somalia. The incident marks the first time U.S. military forces off Somalia have staged an action to board a commercial vessel where pirates were on board with hostages.
Indian Navy – Navies of India, Brazil and South Africa to Conduct War Games
– Times of India – Four Indian warships are being dispatched for a two-month-long overseas deployment along the African coast this week, which will culminate in complex trilateral wargames involving the Indian, Brazilian and South African Navies.
Geopolitics / Iran – The Point of No Return
– The Atlantic – The Iranian nuclear threat will soon come to a head. A preemptive attack by Israel could be disastrous. It might happen anyway.
Geopolitics / Iran – After the Crackdown
– New Yorker – Talking to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—and the opposition—about Iran today.
You must be logged in to post a comment.