"Overcoming": A soldier with the Uganda People's Defence Force overtakes an obstacle during a timed squad competition at Forward Operating Location Kasenyi, Uganda, April 2, 2008 (Photo: TSgt. Jeremy Lock).
Today we are pleased to bring you exclusive commentary from TSgt. Jeremy T. Lock, a member of the 1st Combat Camera Squadron, Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. who on March 11 was named DoD’s Military Photographer of the year for 2008 (Lock has previously received the MILPHOG designation in 2002, 2005 and 2006). Bellum is grateful for the opportunity to speak with TSgt. Lock about his work and his techniques.
Staff Q&A
Blossom Patrol: Not a walk in the park. (Defenselink)
The Obama administration has released its white paper on the way forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Noah Shachtman at Danger Room adds some color here; Michael Yon described the president’s speech as “disappointing” here; and our friends at SWJ and Abu Muqawama have begun the discussion here and here. I offer my own critique, objective-by-objective, after the jump.
Scott Palter Articles
What is China up to? (Frederic J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
Historian Williamson Murray wrote in Orbis last year: “The great difficulty Americans will face in this century lies in their inability to understand the fundamental drives of those in the external world.” The alarm with which the mainstream media has greeted the release of the Pentagon’s annual report on the Chinese military, which shows increased defense spending and continued investment in “disruptive” technologies, confirms Professor Murray’s thesis on a variety of levels.
Staff Articles
Certain Reservations...
How long can a surplus state reasonably be expected to swallow grim inflationary prospects emerging in America’s headlines? This is the question that has weighed heavily in China’s recent monetary debates and it will be the 800-pound gorilla in the room at next week’s G-20 talks in London. With ominous fiscal clouds brewing on the horizon, China has understandably set a course that leads away from the US dollar—the existing reserve system is not sustainable under the pressures of a budget that may call for $20 trillion in debt within ten years. In pursuing a global currency, though, Bellum wonders whether China might instead be tacking for the doldrums of an internationally subdued economy… or worse, toward a craggy shore where military engagements are the only recourse for recovery.
John Komkov Articles
Do we own the sea? (USS Ponce, Defenselink)
Frank Hoffman, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Marines and now a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, joins Bellum for a four-part series over the next several days. Today in the final part of the series, he shares his views on the role the US Navy should play in the world, as well as his thoughts on under-appreciated macro trends.
How should Americans think about our role in the world’s oceans? Do we have a duty to ensure the free flow of commerce? Should we fear rising powers’ growing navies — Brazil, India, China?
Tristan Abbey Q&A
Frank Hoffman, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Marines and now a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, joins Bellum for a four-part series over the next several days. Today in part three of the series, he discusses the policy-wonk scene in Washington.
You are affiliated with the Foreign Policy Research Institute, which is generally regarded as conservative. What do you make of the perceived disarray within the conservative community over defense policy? Is there a need for some reformulation here, something like what the Center for a New American Security has done for the center-left?
Tristan Abbey Q&A
Must US foreign policy first be approved in this chamber?
Esteemed strategist Leslie Gelb’s Sunday editorial, It’s Time to ‘Go to Strength’ on Foreign Policy, recommends that US foreign policy focus on areas of comparative strength, steadily withdrawing from those arenas where regional complexities prevent American force from being a “sure thing”. Gelb’s argument hinges on the idea that US foreign relations require a black-and-white decision—either leaders can focus on hotspots like Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran at the expense of developing “greater power” alliances or they can engage fully in proven modes of diplomacy in a way that avoids unilateral involvement. Parsing this construction, unilateralism is weakness and US-directed multilateralism is strength. On this point, Gelb cites the Truman administration:
John Komkov Articles
Scientists use RustMapper to track the spread of Ug99.
Scientists around the world are struggling against a deadly strain of stem rust disease known as Ug99. All you need to know about the fungus is that it seems to have started in East Africa and has been migrating eastward, threatening wheat production in Central Asia, India, and China. Many of these scientists — led by Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug — descended on Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, earlier this week to collaborate. The coloring of reportage ranged from the dire — “‘Stem rust’ fungus threatens global wheat harvest,” said The Guardian – to the mildly triumphant — “Scientists gain in struggle against wheat rust,” said the AP. For the science, click here or here, for the layman; for the international efforts to stop it, click here. We consulted a number of scientists to get reports from the front.
Tristan Abbey Articles
A survey of present defense frameworks reveals oversimplification and incompleteness. The hybrid warfare model resolves many existing inaccuracies. (Defenselink)
Frank Hoffman, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Marines and now a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, joins Bellum for a four-part series over the next several days. Today in part two of the series, he defends Hybrid Warfare.
The hybrid warfare concept has gained traction among a lot of people who were highly critical of other concepts like NCW, 4GW, rapid decisive operations, and so forth. Why do you think this is? What do you think of the utility of concepts like this?
Tristan Abbey Q&A
A new day in defense spending? (Defenselink)
Frank Hoffman, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Marines and now a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, joins Bellum for a four-part series over the next several days. Today he promotes a more “balanced” approach to defense spending. Tomorrow he will defend Hybrid Warfare, on Monday offer some thoughts on the D.C. think-tank world, and finally on Tuesday wrap-up with a discussion of US maritime policy and macro themes.
Tristan Abbey Q&A