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Military & strategy links: Swedish subs, China's officers, NATO, private military firms and more

Matthew Hill
Military & strategy links: Swedish subs, China's officers, NATO, private military firms and more
Published 29 Apr 2014 
  • The post-Crimea debate over US strategic resolve continues. Former Obama Administration appointee Anne-Marie Slaughter advocates striking at Syria to demonstrate to Russia and other rising powers its willingness to use force in defence of its interests and values. Taylor Marvin argues that this conception of world politics overstates the fungability of threats. In a similar vein, Dan Nexon contends that the correlation between perceived lack of resolve and subsequent aggression is tenuous at best.
  • NATO's Baltic members are committing to higher defence spending, while looking to the alliance to permanently forward-deploy forces to the region.
  • Meanwhile, the Ukrainian crisis may soon have a distant indirect effect on Australia's future submarine procurement, as Sweden's desire to reassert national ownership of submarine production impacts upon a fragmented global industry.
  • Having upgraded its military hardware, China seeks to upgrade its officer corps as well.
  • Noticing Beijing's rapid investment in modern military technology, the US Defence Intelligence Agency is seeking a new generation of weapons systems analysts.
  • CIMSEC has a two-part series exploring the history and prospects for private military companies in South and Southeast Asia.
  • The Quadrennial Defense Review reiterated Washington's adherence to strong alliance ties with Europe. John R Deni casts some critical light on the debate over the ongoing value of trans-Atlantic military relations.
  • Finally, for fans of high-speed aeronautical antics: here's a snippet of the video compiled by VFA-27 'Royal Maces', a US Navy F/A-18 squadron forward deployed as part of the USS George Washington's air-wing.

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