The Indo-Pacific Command Is All About “Containing” China Through India

The Indo-Pacific Command Is All About “Containing” China Through India

The US military rechristened its Pacific Command to the Indo-Pacific Command as a means of strongly signaling its growing interest in India and its eponymous ocean. The importance of this development shouldn’t be underestimated because it sets the strategic basis for the US’ 21st-century policy of “containing China”. The People’s Republic depends just as much…

The Latest Maneuvers in the Sino-American Game in South East Asia

The Latest Maneuvers in the Sino-American Game in South East Asia

The South East Asian sub-region (SEA) remains an important link in the chain of direct as well as indirect “conflict zones”, beginning on the Korean Peninsula and ending at the entrance to the Strait of Malacca, in the Sino-American standoff. There is no scoring system to keep track of “goals, points, seconds” that could be…

The Empire Strikes Back: With Destructive and Dishonest Neocolonialism

The Empire Strikes Back: With Destructive and Dishonest Neocolonialism

This month sees some significant anniversaries in the struggle against old-style colonialism. The trouble is that colonialism didn’t go away after countries in the developing world formally achieved their independence from Europe’s ‘Great Powers.’ It was replaced by a new form which proved to be more destructive and immeasurably more dishonest than what went before….

Southeast Asia Turning into Battlefield: Regional Security Outlook Marked by Uncertainty

Southeast Asia Turning into Battlefield: Regional Security Outlook Marked by Uncertainty

Indonesia and Malaysia, and other countries with sizeable Muslim minorities, like the Philippines, realize just how vulnerable they are. They have been on high alert for fighters returning home from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) front lines in Syria and Iraq. The group has made known its ambition to create Southeast Asian provinces…