Michael Auslin is a historian and foreign policy scholar specializing in Asia-Pacific security and U.S. defense strategy. He is a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and the author of several books on Asian geopolitics. He contributed articles to The Weekly Standard between 2008 and 2012, covering topics including East Asian diplomacy, naval strategy, and U.S. military policy.
Colorado's wildfire has exploded into an "epic firestorm," in the words of Colorado Springs fire chief Richard Brown. Over 30,000 people have evacuated, and already hundreds of homes have been consumed. Ironically, the U.S. Air Force Academy has also been evacuated, at the very time that Colorado…
After years of ignoring North Korean aggression and provocations, the South Korean government has stated that any future attacks will result in war on the peninsula. In such a crisis as happening now on the Korean peninsula, one assumes the political and military leadership of the United States…
A small splash is being made by accounts of a recent Office of Naval Intelligence report claiming that Iran has achieved the capability of "easily" closing off the Straits of Hormuz in wartime. Supposedly, the Iranian navy has sufficient surface and subsurface vessels, along with advanced missile…
The Chinese Navy is already upping the ante from its harassment of two U.S. naval vessels in international waters last week. How the Obama administration responds will determine whether America maintains its naval superiority in Asia and upholds recognized standards of maritime behavior.
AS THEY DEAL WITH a collapsing world economy, policymakers in Washington and around the globe must not forget that when a depression strikes, war can follow. Nowhere is this truer than in Asia, the most heavily armed region on earth and riven with ancient hatreds and territorial rivalries.…
Just after Christmas, two Chinese destroyers and a supply ship left their base in southern China to make the long voyage to Somalia, there to protect Chinese-flagged vessels from pirate attacks. Headed by a Rear Admiral, the PLA Navy flotilla marks the first overseas maritime deployment by China…
When autocracy sneezes, Asia catches cold. Russia's naked power grab in the Caucasus will have global repercussions, nowhere more so than in Asia. While Europe now contemplates a return to long-term tension on Russia's southwestern borders, Moscow's act of war will have lasting effects far from the…
IN RECENT DAYS, the Bush administration has taken three small steps to shore up America's position in East Asia. While important, these steps are not enough in themselves to stave off our long-term decline in the Pacific. Rather, they should serve as the first salvos in a full-fledged redefinition…
NEXT WEEK, new South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will visit Washington on his first foreign trip abroad, hoping to cement closer ties with the U.S. government. His hopes are likely to be dashed, and the effect on the 50-year-old U.S.-Republic of Korea (ROK) alliance could be catastrophic. Both…