Month: June 2019

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Foreign Policy Update

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo travelled to New Delhi, India this week. India is increasingly seen as a vital ally in the effort to contain China’s expansionist and increasingly militant role. The New York Analysis of Policy and Government provides excerpts from his remarks there.

As I said in a speech just a few weeks back in Washington, it took our two nations decades to realize just how far this friendship could go and just how much we could work together.

But in fact, someone did see what was possible.  One of India’s eminent thinkers, K. Subrahmanyam, co-wrote an essay – this was back in 1995 – and it began with these lines:

“It is widely understood that the United States is important to India.  It is less well understood how important India is to the long-term interests of the United States of America.”

I want you all today to know that I understand that, and that America understands that.

I just had a great opportunity.  I finished an excellent set of meetings with Prime Minister Modi, Minister Jaishankar, and other officials.  We didn’t just talk about bilateral relations, the relationship between our two countries, although we spent a fair amount of time talking on that important topic.

We also talked about what I’ll call a new age of ambition, the new age of ambition for our two proud nations.

We shouldn’t see each other only through the narrow, bilateral lens, and I want to talk about that tonight.

We each, India and the United States, should see the world as it is, and see each other for what we are: great democracies, global powers, and good friends.

We have the ability to forge a new kind of cooperation that won’t just be good for us, but for the region, and indeed for the entire world.

That’s what I told your leaders this afternoon.  And it’s my pleasure to share this vision with you here this evening.

Look, we start from a good place – a very good place.  We are blessed that U.S.-India friendship is rooted in a solid foundation.  The rule of law.  Respect for human dignity.  The importance of civil society.  These ideals, they allow people to flourish.  The Indian people believe in them.  And Americans believe in them as well.

We share common historical threads upon which to build.  We both struggled for independence.  We both wrote constitutions that begin with the words “We the People.”  And we both protect unalienable rights.

When President Eisenhower, a great Kansan – my home state – when President Eisenhower visited India in 1959, he said, quote: “Between the first largest democracy on earth, India, and the second largest, America, lie 10,000 miles of land and ocean.  But in our fundamental ideas and convictions about democracy, we are very close neighbors.”  And we ought to be even closer, end of quote.

I certainly agree with President Eisenhower.

Look, you just proved enormously your commitment to democracy last month in the largest democratic exercise in the world’s history.  It was an example for the region.  Imagine – imagine if every nation had the vigorous debates and voice that the Indian people just had the opportunity to express.

And yet in spite of all this, there’s a nagging misconception that our countries are not able to be full partners – the distrust of an earlier era, I think, still lingers.

But that’s not true.  Just look at what’s already happened.

You’ve made hard choices to cut off oil imports from Iran, and move away from purchasing Venezuelan oil.  We know these decisions weren’t without cost.

We’re doing everything we can to ensure you have adequate crude imports.  We appreciate your help in pushing these regimes to behave like normal countries, and the Venezuelans to take care of their people.

You supported the global campaign of pressure and diplomacy with North Korea, to encourage Chairman Kim to go back to the bargaining table, and ultimately, to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

You’ve joined America, too, for regular meetings between our top defense and diplomatic leaders.

Your navy recently joined ours, alongside those of Japan and the Philippines, for a group sail for the first time in the South China Sea.  There, we were able to reinforce our partnership and the freedom of navigation throughout international waterways.

Recently, too, India voted against giving the United Nations observer status to a Palestinian NGO tied to terror group Hamas, because rewarding terror groups is just wrong.  Both India and America know that.

You’ve contributed, too, $3 billion in fact, in assistance to Afghanistan, where we’ll keep working to achieve a better future for the Afghan people, and we will make sure the country never again becomes a hive for terrorist evil.

You’ve collaborated – you’ve collaborated with USAID, our aid institution inside the Department of State, on economic development that ranges from training farmers in Kenya, to helping women find employment in Afghanistan, to helping Nepal meet its energy needs.

Your army instructors joined ours earlier just this month here in New Delhi to train African peacekeepers so they can better defend themselves.

India more and more is standing on the world stage, and we welcome your assertiveness, because it’s good for the world.  It’s why we have for years supported your permanent seat on the UN Security Council.  We’ve seen what’s possible when we work together for the common good all around the world.

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I think, too, it’s the moment to think in a different way, to think even bigger.  It’s time for a more ambitious age.

Let’s start with counterterrorism.  Just a few weeks ago, Prime Minister Modi called for all nations to band together to fight terrorism, a message that aligns with what President Trump told the world leaders two years ago in Riyadh, on his first international visit.  We were pleased to see the United Nations Sanctions Committee designate Masood Azhar last month.  And from Kandahar to Sri Lanka and beyond, this fight will continue.  Our work together must continue.  Can we work even more closely to thwart terrorism that afflicts South Central Asia?

Then there’s our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region – a vision which we arrived at independently, but which today we pursue together.  We both seek to uphold national sovereignty, the rule of law, transparency, good government, and basic freedoms.  And we look forward to working with you in the western Indian Ocean, alongside countries such as France.  Later this year, for the first time ever, the U.S. military will participate in a tri-service exercise with their Indian counterparts.  We respect your sovereignty, and seek a true partnership.  Can we have a more robust defense relationship grounded in interoperability, with common platforms, shared doctrines, and new technologies?

Today 60 percent of global maritime trade transits through the Indo-Pacific.  In past weeks, the Islamic Republic of Iran has attacked tankers from Japan, Norway, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.  In recent years, China has sought dominance in the South China Sea.  Can America and India strategize more comprehensively on how to safeguard free and open seaways all throughout the world?

And on the economic front, just as we want our governments to instinctively turn to one another as partners, so we seek the same thing for our companies.  Can we – can we help each other’s private industries disengage from countries with a weak rule of law and invest in partner nations eager to house our supply chains and our innovators?

India’s IT sector, it’s more than just a digital miracle – it’s a source of national pride.  I know it; I can see it.  Can we work together as partners, with partners such as Japan, to keep India’s networks – and the 5G networks of the future ‒ safe and reliable?  I’m confident that we can.  Can we come to an agreement that allows data to flow freely among countries so we don’t balkanize the Internet, make our companies less competitive, and impede economic growth?  I am certain there is a way.

Look, India has a chance to contribute robustly in the energy security region as well.  We want that to happen.  Can we work together to provide clean energy for all of the Indian people?  And can we help wean your industries off reliance on partners that don’t share our common, strategic set of interests?

One million Indian youth enter the job market every month.  There are trillions of dollars in potential American investment sitting on the sidelines, waiting to be put to work in the Indo-Pacific region.  The table of prosperity is set.  Can India find a new appreciation for the economic freedom that complements political freedom?  I know that we can do this together.

What about reducing trade barriers between our two great nations?  I’m very confident – I’m very confident – that a solution can be found, one that will honor President Trump’s call for fair and reciprocal trade and benefit the citizens of India and the United States alike.

And speaking of the citizenry of our two countries, India is the birthplace of four major world religions.  Let’s stand up, let’s stand up together in defense of religious freedom for all.  Let’s speak out strongly together in favor of those rights, for whenever we do compromise those rights, the world is worse off.

And let’s keep, too, the people-to-people ties strong.  More than half a million Indians have studied in the United States since the 1960s, and they’ve acquired knowledge that benefits India and the world.  The very father of the Indian constitution, some of your most successful business leaders, and the 2009 winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry all earned degrees in the United States of America.  We want young Indians of today to thrive, to thrive just in the same way each of those did.

Look, I’ll do my part to grow these ties. I’m personally committed to regular calls with Minister Jaishankar, to continue the conversations that we had today.  It’s a step forward for our diplomacy, and everything I’ve discussed today.  You have my word that we will continue to work hard on this.

I know too – I know we can go so far together, and we’ve already made great progress.  We’re on the way there.  We’ve made significant progress.  But now I must say just after your election, it’s time that each of us deliver.

I often take my cues from someone that you don’t know.  His names is Charles Vijendra Ghoorah.  I call him Chuck.  Chuck is a decades-long friend of mine.  We worked together about 25 years ago.  We’ve stayed close friends ever since.

He has three degrees.  He is a wildly successful businessman, and his parents still give him a hard time because he didn’t become a doctor.  Chuck represents the greatness of your nation.  I’ve seen it.

And Chuck’s been good to me.  He’s been good to Susan and I.  He’s helped me understand India in ways that I might not otherwise have had the chance to do.  I’ve always tried to be good to him too.  And as you all know, I got a chance to return a favor back in 2016.  I was a member of Congress when Prime Minister Modi came to Washington, D.C. and he spoke at our Congress on Capitol Hill.  Few leaders around the world get a chance to do that.  I very much wanted to the chance to hear – Chuck, but I knew how much it meant to Chuck to be there, and so I gave him my ticket.  It was amazing.  All he wanted was to be in the same room with this great leader who he knew could make things better for both the Indian people and the people of the United States of America.

I want you all to know that I share Chuck’s view that we can accomplish this.  Right now we have an absolute perfect chance, a perfect chance to go even further than many have dreamed.

Right now we have two leaders in President Trump and Prime Minister Modi who aren’t afraid to blaze great trails and aren’t afraid to take risks where they’re appropriate.

Right now we’re poised to do truly incredible things for our own people, for the region, and for the world.

Let’s see each other with new eyes and embrace the age of ambition.

May God bless you.  Hail India.  And God bless the United States of America.

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government.  Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.

Illustration: Pixabay

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Democrats Push to allow Felons to Vote

In addition to opposing reasonable measures to prevent fraudulent voting, there is a substantial push, principally by Democrats, to give the vote to convicted felons.  Some, such as presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders, seek to even give incarcerated prisoners, including terrorists, the right to cast ballots.

There is a history of some states allowing convicted felons who have completed their sentences to regain voting rights.  The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) notes that “It has been common practice in the United States to make felons ineligible to vote, in some cases permanently. Over the last few decades, the general trend has been toward reinstating the right to vote at some point, although this is a state-by-state policy choice. Currently, state approaches to felon disenfranchisement vary tremendously…In all cases, “automatic restoration” does not mean that voter registration is automatic. Typically prison officials automatically inform election officials that an individual’s rights have been restored. The person is then responsible for re-registering through normal processes. Some states, California is one example, require that voter registration information be provided to formerly incarcerated people.”

Pro/con notes that “An estimated 6.1 million people with a felony conviction are barred from voting in elections – a condition known as disenfranchisement. Each state has its own laws on disenfranchisement. While Vermont and Maine allow felons to vote while in prison, ten other states permanently restrict certain felons from voting. Proponents of felon re-enfranchisement say that felons who have paid their debt to society by completing their sentences should have all of their rights and privileges restored. They argue that efforts to block ex-felons from voting are unfair, undemocratic, and politically or racially motivated. Opponents say felon voting restrictions are consistent with other voting limitations such as age, residency, sanity, etc., and other felon restrictions such as no guns for violent offenders and no sex offenders near schools. They say that convicted felons have demonstrated poor judgment and should not be trusted with a vote.”

The reason for the Democrats’ interest in this topic is clear.  According to an NYU study, “disenfranchisement laws tend to take more votes from Democratic than from Republican candidates. Analysis shows that felon disenfranchisement played a decisive role in U.S. Senate elections in recent years. Moreover, at least one Republican presidential victory would have been reversed if former felons had been allowed to vote… felon voters showed strong Democratic preferences in both presidential and senatorial elections…even comparatively unpopular Democratic candidates… would have garnered almost 70 percent of the felon vote.”

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Terry McAuliffe, then-governor of the key swing state of Virginia and a personal friend of Hillary Clinton, announced that he was restoring voting rights of more than 200,000 Virginians who were convicted of felonies such as murder, rape, armed assault and other crimes.  Some analyses indicated that the governor’s restoration would be permitted despite the status of any unpaid fines or restitution requirements. A press release from McAuliffe’s office noted “Each of those Virginians will immediately regain the right to register This new system of buying with affordable costs can be obtained cialis prescription after the third treatment. All you need to online viagra pharmacy do take some amount of acid is secreted in our stomach to aid the digestion process. So plan for a nice candle light dinner with your partner before the intercourse and downtownsault.org commander levitra spend some time with you only. They claim that this was the first clinical study of such kind. levitra prescription to vote, to run for office, to serve on a jury and to serve as a notary public…”  

There was a harsh reaction. A National Review assessment questions whether the Governor can provide a blanket pardon, as opposed to a case-by-case action. The article quotes legal sources claiming that McAuliffe is essentially rewriting the state constitution. An Associated Press (AP) description left no doubt that the purpose of the move had less to do with the rights of released criminals and everything to do with the 2016 election. AP noted that at the announcement, left-wings groups were present, handing out voter registration forms. A BBC article quoted Republican Caucus Chairman Ryan T. McDougle: “Terry McAuliffe wants to ensure that convicted pedophiles, rapists, and domestic abusers can vote for Hillary Clinton.”

An Atlantic article favorable to McAuliffe noted the end result: “When Republicans in Virginia’s state legislature revolted at that executive order and won an August 2016 Virginia Supreme Court decision blocking restorations en masse, McAuliffe took another route, with his office reviewing thousands of felons’ records and the governor restoring their rights individually using an autopen. The number of restorations completed that way only stood at 13,000 of the planned 200,000 in August of 2016. But the administration has been persistent, and now Secretary of the Commonwealth Kelly Thomasson tells…[that] 172,298 people have had their rights restored.”

Some Democrats are concerned that traditional support groups such as blue collar workers and ethnic minorities will be swayed by President Trump’s economic advances. That worry extends to Jewish voters as well, who traditionally prefer Democrats but may be offended by many Democrats’ reduced support for Israel and the party’s growing relationship with those making anti-Semitic remarks.  Enfranchising felons, with their traditional support for Democrats, is seen as one small but significant way to partially address the expected shortfall.

Illustration: Pixabay

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NASA Picks Missions to Study Sun

The Sun’s impact on Earth cannot, of course, be overstated. 

NASA has selected two new missions to advance understanding of the Sun and its dynamic effects on space. One of the selected missions will study how the Sun drives particles and energy into the solar system and a second will study Earth’s response.

The Sun generates a vast outpouring of solar particles known as the solar wind, which can create a dynamic system of radiation in space called space weather. Near Earth, where such particles interact with our planet’s magnetic field, the space weather system can lead to profound impacts on human interests, such as astronauts’ safety, radio communications, GPS signals, and utility grids on the ground. The more knowledge gained about what drives space weather and its interaction with the Earth and lunar systems, the more harmful effects can be mitigates – including safeguarding astronauts and technology crucial to NASA’s Artemis program to the Moon.

“We carefully selected these two missions not only because of the high-class science they can do in their own right, but because they will work well together with the other heliophysics spacecraft advancing NASA’s mission to protect astronauts, space technology and life down here on Earth,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “These missions will do big science, but they’re also special because they come in small packages, which means that we can launch them together and get more research for the price of a single launch.”

PUNCH

The Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere, or PUNCH, mission will focus directly on the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, and how it generates the solar wind. Composed of four suitcase-sized satellites, PUNCH will image and track the solar wind as it leaves the Sun. The spacecraft also will track coronal mass ejections – large eruptions of solar material that can drive large space weather events near Earth – to better understand their evolution and develop new techniques for predicting such eruptions.

These observations will enhance national and international research by other NASA missions such as Parker Solar Probe, and the upcoming ESA (European Space Agency)/NASA Solar Orbiter, due to launch in 2020.  PUNCH will be able to image, in real time, the structures in the solar atmosphere that these missions encounter by blocking out the bright light of the Sun and examining the much fainter atmosphere.

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Together, these missions will investigate how the star we live with drives radiation in space. PUNCH is led by Craig DeForest at the Southwest Research institute in Boulder, Colorado. Including launch costs, PUNCH is being funded for no more than $165 million.

TRACERS

The second mission is Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites, or TRACERS. The TRACERS investigation was partially selected as a NASA-launched rideshare mission, meaning it will be launched as a secondary payload with PUNCH. NASA’s Science Mission Directorate is emphasizing secondary payload missions as a way to obtain greater science return. TRACERS will observe particles and fields at the Earth’s northern magnetic cusp region – the region encircling Earth’s pole, where our planet’s magnetic field lines curve down toward Earth. Here, the field lines guide particles from the boundary between Earth’s magnetic field and interplanetary space down into the atmosphere.

In the cusp area, with its easy access to our boundary with interplanetary space, TRACERS will study how magnetic fields around Earth interact with those from the Sun. In a process known as magnetic reconnection, the field lines explosively reconfigure, sending particles out at speeds that can approach the speed of light. Some of these particles will be guided by the Earth’s field into the region where TRACERS can observe them.

Magnetic reconnection drives energetic events all over the universe, including coronal mass ejections and solar flares on the Sun. It also allows particles from the solar wind to push into near-Earth space, driving space weather there. TRACERS will be the first space mission to explore this process in the cusp with two spacecraft, providing observations of how processes change over both space and time. The cusp vantage point also permits simultaneous observations of reconnection throughout near-Earth space. Thus, it can provide important context for NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, which gathers detailed, high-speed observations as it flies through single reconnection events at a time.

TRACERS’ unique measurements will help with NASA’s mission to safeguard technology and astronauts in space. The mission is led by Craig Kletzing at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Not including rideshare costs, TRACERS is funded for no more than $115 million.

Launch date for the two missions is no later than August 2022. Both programs will be managed by the Explorers Program Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Illustration: NASA.  A constant outflow of solar material streams out from the Sun, depicted here in an artist’s rendering. On June 20, 2019, NASA selected two new missions – the Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission and Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS) – to study the origins of this solar wind and how it affects Earth. Together, the missions support NASA’s mandate to protect astronauts and technology in space from such radiation.

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Pacific Allies Coordinate Defense

The threat from China’s dramatic increase in military power and escalating aggressiveness has produced extraordinary concern among Pacific nations. Beijing has shown no signs of relenting, even in the face of a ruling by international authorities such as the World Court in the Hague which condemned China’s invasion and annexation of the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone.

In 2018, Japan and Australia moved closer to cooperation in defense matters. The Philippines began to turn back from its flirtation with a humiliating rapprochement with Beijing and started to resume its formally close relations with Washington.

On June First, the U.S. Defense Department  reported that “The defense ministers of Australia, Japan and the United States affirm their countries’ alignment in strategic interests and universal principles, including a commitment to democracy, human rights, free trade, and the rules-based international order. Together, the three countries recognize the importance of enhancing engagement with our Indo-Pacific partners, in order to foster regional prosperity, resilience and transparency in a time of geostrategic change.”
 

Pentagon sources state that they are seeking to strengthen trilateral cooperation in the areas of maritime security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, peacekeeping, counter-terrorism, amphibious activities, and non-conventional domains like space, cyberspace and the electromagnetic spectrum.

They seek to do so by increasing what they term “close collaboration,” with regional partners, which the nations involved hope will “identify and coordinate opportunities to build partner capacity through regular information sharing, complementary programs and cooperative activities.”

Other stated goals include: “Increase the complexity and sophistication of trilateral exercises to enhance interoperability, build common understanding, and better enable our defence forces to work together to contribute to peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region. Promote transparency, regional cooperation and the Also you should not increase the frequency in which the dose buy sildenafil without prescription http://mouthsofthesouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/MOTS-10.22.15-3.pdf is taken without consulting the physician. Some of the drugs intercepted at this location include Tadalafil, Filagra, Xanax, try this link commander levitra, Sildenafil and variations of synthetic marijuana – all of which are becoming more and more sought after, the natives are paid more to harvest acai berries. cheap sildenafil uk sales here Medication: Prescribed or un-prescribed, many drugs can cause infertility. Even if he does not, from the point of view of pharmacology, the main active ingredient of levitra uk the original source. rule of law through port visits and other defense-related activities that demonstrate every nation’s right to freedom of navigation and overflight, in accordance with international law. Improve common understanding and shared regional situational awareness through enhanced trilateral information sharing.”

While both nations had separate defense-related ties to the United States, arranging a tripartite agreement is a significant move.

Asia Nikkei noted in October that “Tokyo has moved to strengthen its relationship with Canberra as part of Abe’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy to cooperate with the U.S., Australia, India and other countries in the region under common values like the rule of law…”China is challenging America’s position” in the Indo-Pacific, Australia said in a foreign policy white paper last November, pointing out the relative decline of Washington’s presence in the region and Beijing’s rise. Australia is alarmed by China’s expansion of its influence through infrastructure development support among the Pacific Islands, a region Canberra considers its backyard.”

A key future step will be bringing in India, with its significant defense and nuclear capabilities, into the growing joint arrangement. In 2018, the Australian Institute of International Affairs noted: “Security ties between India and Australia seem to be on an upward trajectory since the signing of a Framework for Security Cooperation by Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Tony Abbott in 2014. Several high level meetings and joint bilateral and multilateral exercises like Kakadu and the Black Carillon submarine rescue exercise have ended the year on a positive note. Combined efforts should be made to enhance maritime surveillance, monitoring and patrolling in the region…”

The U.S. has moved towards closer relations with India. Earlier this month, the U.S. State Department emphasized that

“India plays a vital role in the U.S. vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific…In 2016, the United States designated India as a Major Defense Partner. Commensurate with this designation, India last year was granted Strategic Trade Authorization tier 1 status, which allows India to receive license-free access to a wide range of military and dual-use technologies that are regulated by the Department of Commerce. With a Communications, Compatibility and Security Agreement and other enabling agreements now in place, U.S.-India defense trade cooperation continues to expand.”

Washington’s eventual goal should be the establishment of a NATO-type alliance in the region. The Atlantic alliance successfully kept the Soviet Union at bay, even during the period when Moscow had a massive conventional force in Europe and held half the continent in captivity. An equal effort in the Pacific will be more difficult, however.  Unlike many of the NATO countries, there is not a shared history of alliance between key Indo-Pacific nations, and, indeed, World War 2 brought the U.S. India, Australia and the Philippines into direct conflict with Tokyo, which behaved then much as China does now. Further, bringing in Taiwan would almost certainly enrage Beijing.

Illustration: U.S. Defense Dept.

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White House Responds to Iran’s Drone Shooting

There was a flurry of White House activity following President Trump’s surprise decision to not proceed with a military response to Iran’s downing of an American unmanned drone in international airspace.

New sanctions were imposed on Iranian leaders.  According to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “This action was taken as part of the Administrations maximum pressure campaign against the Iranian regime, which has engaged in 40 years of terror and aggression against the United States and our allies. Most recently, it targeted a U.S. unmanned aircraft and executed attacks on international shipping. The Supreme Leaders Office has enriched itself at the expense of the Iranian people. It sits atop a vast network of tyranny and corruption that deprives the Iranian people of the freedom and opportunity they deserve. Todays action denies Irans leadership the financial resources to spread terror and oppress the Iranian people. The only path forward is for Iran to negotiate a comprehensive deal that addresses the full range of its destabilizing behaviors. Until it does, our campaign of diplomatic isolation and maximum economic pressure will continue. When the Iranian regime decides to forgo violence and meet our diplomacy with diplomacy, it knows how to reach us.”

The new sanctions include:

1. All property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person of the following persons are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in:

(i)   the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Iranian Supreme Leader’s Office (SLO); or

(ii)  any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State:

2.  The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to impose on a foreign financial institution the sanctions described in subsection (b) of this section upon determining that the foreign financial institution has knowingly conducted or facilitated any significant financial transaction for or on behalf of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to section 1 of this order. (b)  With respect to any foreign financial institution determined by the Secretary of the Treasury in accordance with this section to meet the criteria set forth in subsection (a) of this section, the Secretary of the Treasury may prohibit the opening, and prohibit or impose strict conditions on the maintaining, in the United States of a correspondent account or a payable-through account by such foreign financial institution. .  The prohibitions in section 1 of this order include: (a)  the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; and (b)  the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.

3.  The unrestricted immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of aliens determined to meet one or more of the criteria in subsection 1(a) of this order would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and the entry of such persons into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, is hereby suspended.  Such persons shall be treated as persons covered by section 1 of Proclamation 8693 of July 24, 2011 (Suspension of Entry of Aliens Subject to United Nations Security Council Travel Bans and International Emergency Economic Powers Act Sanctions).

4.  The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including adopting rules and regulations, to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order, other than the purposes described in section 5 of this order.  The Secretary of the Treasury may, consistent with applicable law, redelegate any of these functions within the Department of the Treasury.  All departments and agencies of the United States shall take all appropriate measures within their authority to implement this order.

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6.  For those persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be taken pursuant to this order would render those measures ineffectual.  I therefore determine that for these measures to be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12957, there need be no prior notice of a listing or determination made pursuant to section 1 of this order.

The U.S. didn’t stop there. Joint actions in coordination with Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom were announced, relating to Iran’s activities in Yemen. The State Department disclosed the following Joint Statement by those nations:

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States of America express their concern over escalating tensions in the region and the dangers posed by Iranian destabilizing activity to peace and security both in Yemen and the broader region, including attacks on the oil tankers at Fujairah on 12 May and in the Gulf of Oman on 13 June. These attacks threaten the international waterways that we all rely on for shipping. Ships and their crews must be allowed to pass through international waters safely. We call on Iran to halt any further actions which threaten regional stability, and urge diplomatic solutions to de-escalate tensions.

“We further note with concern the recent escalation in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia using Iranian made and facilitated missiles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. In particular, we condemn the Houthi attack on Abha civilian airport on 12 June, which injured 26 civilians. “We express full support for Saudi Arabia and call for an immediate end to such attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis.

“The Quad members express concern that the World Food Program has been forced to suspend food deliveries to Sanaa due to Houthi interference in aid delivery. We call on the Houthis to immediately end all restrictions on aid agencies to ensure the delivery of life-saving assistance to those Yemenis most in need.

“We reiterate our commitment to the Yemeni peace process and relevant Security Council Resolutions, including UNSCR 2216. We express our full support for the UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths. In this regard, we call on the Yemeni parties to engage constructively with the Special Envoy to accelerate implementation of the agreements reached in Stockholm. We call on the Houthis to facilitate full and unhindered access for UNMHA, UNDP and UNVIM.

“We call on the Yemeni parties to participate constructively in the joint Redeployment Coordination Committee to accelerate implementation of the Hodeidah Agreement, which includes agreeing the Concept of Operations and tripartite monitoring, as well as engaging constructively on local security issues. We call on the Houthis to withdraw fully from the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Issa and Saleef. We look to the Security Council to review progress when they meet on 17 July.

“The Quad nations note that implementation of the Stockholm Agreement will give the opportunity to start a comprehensive political process which can lead to an enduring political settlement that will end the conflict in Yemen.”

Illustration: Department of Defense

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Biden’s Call for Violence

It is deeply troubling that major political figures in the Democratic Party continue to condone and even call for violence. To be clear, what is being advocated is not just extremely harsh language (both parties are guilty of that) but actual, physical attacks.

Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden issued a deeply troubling statement on June 17, reports Trending Politics. In an interview with MSNBC’s Joy Reid, the former Vice President said “”There are certain things where it just takes a brass knuckle fight…Let’s start a real physical revolution if you’re talking about it.”

His statement comes almost precisely two years to the day (June 14, 2017) after Rep. Steve Scalise was shot at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in Alexandria, Virginia, where 24 Republican congressmen gathered to practice for an upcoming baseball game. The incident, perpetrated by Bernie Sanders supporter James Thomas Hodgkinson, was politically motivated. Where it not for the swift response by on-scene police, far  more GOP electeds would have been shot.

It has become customary to describe the violence. In many cases typified by frequent disorders on city streets, government offices, and college campuses as the work of extremist organizations such as Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and related organizations.  But the reality is that these tactics have been, although not directly organized, then certainly encouraged or condoned by many established Democrat party leaders.

The alliance of some key Democrat leaders with violent extremists is not new.  Not much coverage was provided by the media about Obama’s closeness with figures who embraced violent tactics.  Joel Pollak, writing in Breitbart described Obama’s alliance with Bill Ayers, which continued even after Obama had been elected to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate. Ayers was a leader of the “Weatherman” organization, which issued a “Declaration of War” against the United States, a document authored by Bernardine Dorn, who became Ayers wife.

The Weather Underground has described  William_Ayers  as “responsible for roughly 72 bombings in all, including the United States Capitol (March 1, 1971), The Pentagon (May 19, 1972), the United States Department of State (January 28, 1975) and numerous other targets. In 1969, the Weather Underground planted a bomb at a statue dedicated to police casualties in the 1886 Haymarket Riot. The statue was blown into pieces, but was rebuilt in 1970. It was blown up again by the Weather Underground, five months later…In 1970, Ayers explained what the Weather Underground was all about: ‘Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home, kill your parents, that’s where it’s really at.’”

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Other Democrat leaders continue the association with political violence.  Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Ca.) called for the harassment of White House officials, stating: “If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them, and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”

Portland’s Democrat Mayor Ted Wheeler refused to intervene when disruptive left-wing protesters produced prolonged chaos in his city. As a result, his city’s police force has at times merely observed as leftist extremists blocked traffic, destroyed property, and assaulted people.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, following an attack on a Manhattan GOP headquarters and clashes between right and left wing groups, blamed the violence on “President Donald Trump and New York Republican Party.”

Tim Haines, writing in Real Clear Politics, noted that Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Hillary Clinton’s vice-presidential running mate said Democrats must fight back in “Congress, the courts, and in the streets.”

Must of the most recent harshness of our political relations can be traced back to Hillary Clinton herself.  During a primary debate, she was asked whom she considered “the enemy.”  She could have named terrorism, poverty, Russia, China, or any number of problems.  She chose instead to simply say, “Republicans.”  She recently added, “You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about.”

It is time to have a bluntly honest discussion about the violent and aggressive tone of the Left, their staunch allies in the media, and their supporters in the entertainment industry. Include also those in academia who either tolerate or perpetuate violence on campuses whenever a non-leftist speaker is invited. Indeed, the very leadership of the Democrat Party, especially DNC Chair Tom Perez and former Deputy Chair Keith Ellison have strong links to extremists, who condone  violence. The very way many on the left describe themselves—“the Resistance”—gives rise to a self-perception of an aggressive movement that employs violence.

Illustration: Pixabay

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Foreign Policy Update

FOREIGN POLICY UPDATE

June 21, 2019

INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

The State Department released its 2018 Report on International Religious Freedom on June 21, 2019. According to Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, 80% of the world still lives in areas where religious freedom is under attack. He pointed out that: “Iran has one of the worst records on religious freedom in the world and continues to show a blatant disregard for protecting individuals’ religious freedom.”

“Countless members of Iranian religious minorities, including Baha’is, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and Sunni and Sufi Muslims, face discrimination, harassment, and unjust imprisonment because of their beliefs. Their religious books are banned. They are denied access to education. Their cemeteries are desecrated. Blasphemy and proselytization of Muslims is punishable by death.”

Last year, he said, the Iranian regime violently cracked down on the peaceful protest of Gonabadi Sufi dervishes in what Human Rights Watch called “one of the largest crackdowns against a religious minority in Iran in a decade.”  He reaffirmed the United States always will stand up for religious freedom.

INDIA

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo is traveling to India to meet with Prime Minister Modi and his new counterpart, Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar to accelerate the relationship and to set additional goals. A senior State Department official briefing the media noted that Jaishankar is “really one of the visionaries behind the expansion of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership.”

According to the senior official, India has stopped its importation of Iranian oil, with an exception for humanitarian relief supplies to Afghanistan. The United States has worked to increase its crude oil production to ensure its partners have a staple supply in recent months.

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The Trump Administration views India as a critical component to its Indo-Pacific strategy. Washington is encouraging India, and other US allies, with respect to the S-400, to forego transactions with Russia, according to the senior official. He also pointed out that the “administration has taken great steps to enhance our military interoperability with India, to finalize groundbreaking enabling agreements that allow us to do more together militarily, and has also taken steps to enhance the quality and quantity of our defense technology relations.”

The Trump Administration also has taken the unprecedented step of offering the armed UAV Sea Guardian to India, the first non-treaty partner to be offered that high technology. The US eased the process and granted India Strategic Trade Authorization Tier-1 status that gives them the same license-free access to defense articles as Washington’s NATO allies, Japan, South Korea, and Australia.

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

Secretary of State Pompeo released a new Trafficking in Persons Report this week commending those countries that have taken action to stop the abuse of human traffickers.  He noted that nations like Senegal, as well as Mongolia, the Philippines, Tajikistan, and others have improved conditions but also called out those nations that aren’t doing enough.

Tier 3 designations – the lowest possible designation – were given once again to China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Venezuela, among others. The Secretary noted that a few countries, including Cuba, were added to the Tier 3 list. In some case, the governments allow human traffickers to run free or are human traffickers themselves. In North Korea, the government subjects its own citizens to forced labor both at home and abroad and then uses proceeds to fund nefarious activities. According to the report, in China, authorities have detained more than a million members of ethnically Muslim minority groups in internment camps. Many, it states, are forced to produce garments, carpets, cleaning supplies, and other goods for domestic sale.  

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government.  Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.

Illustration: Pixabay


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Senate Outlines Defense Priorities

Over the previous three days, The New York Analysis of Policy and Government has outlined the debate over the funding level for America’s defense.  The Senate Armed Services Committee has outlined the threat facing the U.S., and what must be done to adequately confront it:

The world is more unstable and dangerous than it has been in recent memory. Our margin of military supremacy has eroded and is undermined by new threats from strategic competitors like China and Russia. At the same time, we are confronting persistent threats from North Korea, Iran, and terrorist organizations. Rapid technological advances have fundamentally altered the nature of warfare, and years of sustained armed conflict, underfunding, and budgetary instability have harmed our military readiness and dulled our combat edge. Our Congressional duty to provide for the security of our nation, protect our values, and support those who defend them is all the more important as the tide of war has risen rather than receded. We must pivot to meet the needs of a nation increasingly at risk.

The world is more unstable and dangerous than it has been in recent memory. Our margin of military supremacy has eroded and is undermined by new threats from strategic competitors like China and Russia. At the same time, we are confronting persistent threats from North Korea, Iran, and terrorist organizations. Rapid technological advances have fundamentally altered the nature of warfare, and years of sustained armed conflict, underfunding, and budgetary instability have harmed our military readiness and dulled our combat edge. Our Congressional duty to provide for the security of our nation, protect our values, and support those who defend them is all the more important as the tide of war has risen rather than receded. We must pivot to meet the needs of a nation increasingly at risk.

The committee continues to prioritize the timely passage of this legislation and predictable funding, completing its work on the fiscal year 2020 NDAA just over two months after receiving the administration’s budget request. Our military leaders have repeatedly stated that stable, on-time, and adequate funding is key to implementing the recommendations of the NDS Commission report. The report serves to provide sharp guideposts to outfitting our Armed Forces with the resources and authorities they need to advance U.S. national security interests.

However, timely and sufficient funding alone will not fix all of our security problems. We must establish clear priorities and reinforce them with strategic investments to pursue urgent change at significant scale.

Difficult choices must be made and priorities established, particularly related to roles and missions, force employment, and resource allocation.

With the NDS and NDS Commission Report as the framework, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 advances the following priorities:

Investing in a lethal, ready all-volunteer force The committee’s top priority remains supporting the 2.15 million men and women who make up our all-volunteer force, particularly those troops in harm’s way. The NDAA ensures that our warfighters will not only be equipped with the best equipment and munitions, but also that our military infrastructure supports the mission and a stable quality of life for service members and their families. In So, it will be the amerikabulteni.com generic levitra best one for your hair loss needs. Stress amerikabulteni.com viagra on line is the major factor that causes ED. This helps to improve the blood flow to the penis, so that you generic sildenafil india have an easier time even though exercising. The 1990’s also saw the release of his track, “The A Team”, which became amerikabulteni.com order generic viagra 2011’s highest-selling and charting debut song. particular, the bill profoundly changes how on-base privatized housing is managed, increasing accountability to our military families, and guaranteeing future economic viability for the program. As critical initiatives, the legislation also increases employment opportunities for military spouses and improves the availability of child care on installations.

Restoring our combat advantage through modernization, innovation, and cooperation. Our military superiority can no longer be taken for granted and is not guaranteed. For too many years, we assumed our equipment was better than everyone else’s—but it’s simply not true. Without increased investment, we risk falling behind, losing our ability to successfully deter aggression from strategic competitors, and inflicting lasting damage to our national security. To meet urgent needs across operating domains, the NDAA aligns service resources with the NDS—continuing to rebuild readiness, optimizing the force for innovation and effectiveness, and re-establishing warfighting dominance. Therefore, the NDAA authorizes investments in critical equipment, weapons, and missile defense platforms to improve munitions that enhance lethality. It modernizes key capabilities and increases preparedness for war.

This includes maintaining a safe, secure, sustainable, and credible nuclear deterrent—updating and securing our stockpile and infrastructure to prevent nuclear warfare and ensure nuclear weapons do not end up in the hands of malign actors. No one should doubt the capability or political will of the United States.

The NDAA passed by the committee drives innovation by authorizing funds and implementing policies to advance technology development and next-generation capabilities, including artificial intelligence, hypersonic weapons, and quantum computing. These investments will ensure our military is not fighting tomorrow’s wars with yesterday’s weapons and equipment.

As the global security dynamics shift, warfare has also expanded to new frontiers. To meet growing threats in the space domain, the NDAA establishes a U.S. Space Force as a new component of the Air Force. Our adversaries have Space Forces—we are behind. This new force will focus on cultivating a space warfighting ethos, unify command of space operations and activities, and improve acquisition policies for space programs and systems.

Also a new frontier, the NDAA includes numerous provisions to advance the Department of Defense’s cybersecurity strategy and address our cyber warfighting capabilities.

To reinforce our military might, the NDAA supports programs and policies that will cultivate key alliances and partnerships. These relationships will help maintain a favorable balance of power against near-peer adversaries and counter other growing threats.

Improving effectiveness and efficiency within Pentagon management The Pentagon’s business operations provide the foundation for a responsive and innovative military. Building upon several years of reform, the NDAA continues to streamline operations —continuing acquisition policy reform, recalibrating contract reform, and strengthening program oversight. A more efficient bureaucracy will better utilize the full value of every taxpayer dollar spent on defense.

Photo: Soldiers position vehicles to simulate taking over an enemy town during an exercise at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif., June 7, 2019. (DoD)

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The Defense Budget Debate, Part 2

In the House, Rep. Mac Thornberry, (R-Texas) outlined his disagreement with the Democrat’s military spending plan:

“The Armed Services Committee heard repeated testimony, from Acting Secretary Shanahan, former Secretary Mattis, General Dunford, and others, that the military’s budget must grow between three and five percent through 2025 in order to restore readiness and maintain our competitive edge against Russia and China. The Chairman’s Mark does not meet that standard. In pursuing an arbitrarily lower budget, the proposal reduces or eliminates vital programs, including emergency funding to restore installations damaged by extreme weather, military requirements identified by the Services, funding to maintain our nuclear deterrence and ensure its safety, and missile defense.”

Rep. Thornberry unsuccessfully sought to have several items added to the Democrats’ legislation, emphasizing:

Modernizing to Deter Russia and China: The Chairman’s Mark makes a number of unwise cuts to modernization programs that will hamper America’s ability to maintain our competitive edge over Russia and China. These include reductions to the F-35 request, the Air Force NextGen Air Dominance Program, hypersonic development, LCS programs, 5G efforts, DIU activities, the Rapid Innovation Fund, aircraft carrier construction, and other programs validated by the Services that have earned bipartisan support. The Chairman’s mark also makes unsafe and unwise cuts to nuclear modernization programs, including NNSA programs, designed to keep our deterrent credible and safe. The nuclear deterrent is the cornerstone of our national security and nuclear modernization efforts have been a priority for Republican and Democrat Administrations. 

 
Readiness Restoration: Between 2013 and 2017, military aviation accidents rose 40%, and military aviation deaths hit a six-year high in 2018. Following sustained, focused oversight from the Armed Services Committee and a significant targeted increase in resources, the Committee received testimony that the degradation in readiness has been arrested and accident rates have begun to decline. The Chairman’s Mark makes significant cuts to readiness programs- including to infrastructure and facilities funding- that Ranking Member Thornberry believes could slow recovery efforts. These include over a billion in cuts to military personnel accounts, significant cuts to training programs, and cuts to ammunition stockpiles. The Chairman’s Mark does not support DOD’s request for emergency funding to restore Tyndall AFB, Offutt AFB, Cherry Point MCAS, or Camp Lejeune MCB. Additionally, while many Members are concerned over the Administration’s diversion of construction projects to border barriers, Ranking Member Thornberry does not believe that our troops should pay the price for political discord in Washington. His amendment would backfill funds expected to be reprogrammed from important military projects.

The increase in financial support for the Pentagon is a So, make sure to change the filters cialis cheap no prescription on time with the help of a contractor. If you look like best price vardenafil you just fell out of bed, plan on going back there, alone. There are a generico cialis on line buying here lot of reasons of having the erectile dysfunction issues. It is also termed as viagra for erectile dysfunction. significant departure from the Obama years, when funds were stripped from defense even as the threats from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea grew.

 Mackenzie Eaglen and Rick Berger, writing for the American Enterprise Institute note that the very uncertainty of budget levels has led to major problems for America’s military:

“Former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said a year ago that military had operated under 1,000 days of debilitating continuing resolutions (CR) over the past decade. Yet another continuing resolution looms again this fall. Even as Congress moves ahead with its spending bills for the Defense Department, the odds remain low that both parties can agree to an overall spending level by the start of the fiscal year still…federal agencies, including the U.S. military, will almost certainly begin another year under a spending freeze at last year’s budget levels. The result? The military’s advantages continue to shrink. According to Mattis, “I cannot overstate the impact to our troops’ morale from all this uncertainty. The combination of rapidly changing technology, the negative impact on military readiness resulting from the longest continuous stretch of combat in our nation’s history, and insufficient funding have created an overstretched and under-resourced military.”

The Report Concludes Tomorrow

Photo: The guided missile destroyer USS William P. Lawrence travels in the South China Sea, June 4, 2019, while deployed to support security and stability efforts in the Indo-Pacific region. (DoD)

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Defense Budget Debate

Both within the House of Representatives and between it and the Senate, a debate about how much is required to defend the United States has arisen. It replays a familiar dispute over spending priorities, with Republicans urging increased support for the Pentagon.

There is broad agreement on a key point: the dramatic rise in the military power of Russia and China, their growing alliance with each other, and the aggressiveness they have both displayed on the world stage has dramatically increased the threat level.

 The danger significantly exceeds that which existed at the height of the Cold War. Several years ago, Douglas Schoen and Melik Kaylan in their study “The Russia-China Axis” explained how the U.S. entered a period of unparalleled danger:

““Russia and China are increasingly expansionist…Both…have increased their military budgets substantially while the United States [under the Obama Administration] dramatically [scaled] back…Russia and China have become increasingly nationalistic and aggressive…while America [became]…inner directed, even isolationist…”

A U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission report on Beijing’s military ties to Moscow (E&SRC) notes that

“Since the normalization of relations between China and the Soviet Union in 1989, Beijing and Moscow have prioritized defense and security ties, which are now among the most important components of the overall relationship. This emphasis is reflected in their 1996 “strategic partnership of coordination,” which remains the foundation for high-level cooperation…China steadily increased arms imports from Russia, eventually becoming Russia’s leading destination for arms exports. …Since 2012… closer defense ties have been a key driver of warming China-Russia relations. Indeed, China and Russia appear to be moving toward a higher level of defense cooperation. The three main areas of the bilateral defense relationship—military exercises, military-technical cooperation, and high-level military-to-military contacts—show increases in the level and quality of engagement, collectively reflecting closer defense ties.

“…recent developments in China-Russia military-to-military relations have important implications for U.S. security interests and the Asia Pacific.

  • Russia’s sale of Su-35 fighter jets to China (deliveries of which began in December 2016) will help the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) contest U.S. air superiority, provide China with technology that could help accelerate the development of its own advanced fighters, and serve as a valuable training and learning platform before China fields its next-generation aircraft.
  • The Russian sale of the S-400 surface-to-air missile (SAM) defense system to China (with deliveries starting in 2018) should help China improve capital air defense and could assist the PLA in achieving increased air superiority over Taiwan if deployed to the Eastern Theater Command (bordering the Taiwan Strait). This SAM system would pose a challenge for Taiwan’s air assets in a potential cross-Strait conflict, the air assets of U.S. allies or partners in a South China Sea or East China Sea contingency, and U.S. aircraft, should the United States decide to become involved in such potential conflicts. The S-400 also could be used to help enforce China’s East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
  • The increased complexity and focus on joint operations of military exercises between the PLA and Russian Armed Forces help provide both sides with valuable experience in pursuing their defense objectives. The exercises are particularly useful for the PLA—which lacks recent combat experience—because they provide much-needed insights and knowledge that help China pursue its military modernization goals.
  • The recently expanded geographic scope of Sino-Russian military exercises, along with a new focus on missile defense, reflects increasingly aligned security interests and suggests the two countries are both signaling their respective support for the other’s security priorities. Greater alignment between the two countries in the security realm could pose challenges to the United States, its allies, and partners.
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Despite the acknowledgement of the threat, Democrats in both the House and the Senate favor spending less than what the Trump Administration has requested.

The Report Continues Tomorrow

Photo: F-35A Lightning II (DoD)