Posts tagged as:

china

And some China musings: Papers in USNI Proceedings and the Hoover Digest

by Craig Hooper on April 10, 2011

Over the course of my naval blogging, nothing has worried me more than the Pacific.  I worry that American policymakers have taken their eyes off the ball, distracted by impulsive, poorly justified national security choices (i.e. Iraq and Libya). As resources dwindle, the margin for error and or ability to absorb/compensate/fix strategic mistakes dwindle too. [...]

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In Press: Talking a balanced Fleet at The Atlantic

by Craig Hooper on March 15, 2011

In my second piece over at The Atlantic, I argue for the under-appreciated do-anything amphibs.  You can read it here.  But as the budget gets grimmer and grimmer, I fear that some in the Navy are looking to cut amphibious platforms or restrain/downsize the JHSV, LCS or other experimental platforms that may change the way [...]

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French arms for sale: Reckless opportunism or glue for a future NATO?

by Craig Hooper on January 10, 2011

Back in 2008, In NDIA’s National Defense Magazine, I called for the purchase of the Mistral-class “projection and command” ships, noting that the acquisition of the vessels would be an ideal mix of capability and geopolitical utility.  In what was a sidebar discussion of next-generation hospital ships, Jim Dolbow and I snuck in some geopolitical [...]

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A national security meme to end: China and territorial expansion

by Craig Hooper on January 5, 2011

The Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University came out with a fantastic, information-packed study entitled “China’s out of area naval operations: Case studies, trajectories, obstacles and potential solutions” (ChinaStrategicPerspectives3). There is a lot of good, solid research here, and I commend the authors. It’s great, and my comments (those that follow [...]

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In Press: Talking Shipbuilding with the Seattle Times

by Craig Hooper on January 2, 2011

Seattle Times columnist Jon Talton got in touch last week to discuss shipbuilding, competition from Asia, and shipyard consolidation.  The resulting piece, on the merger of Seattle’s Todd Pacific Shipyards with privately-owned Portland’s Vigor Industrial, came out today.  It’s an interesting article, which you can read here. First, I think the Todd-Vigor merger is pretty [...]

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In Press: Talking Korea NEO evacuation at The Atlantic

by Craig Hooper on December 30, 2010

Chris Albon and I have an article up at The Atlantic to discuss the challenges of getting noncombatants out of Korea.  Aside from my concern that our NEO evacuation plans (and our misguided effort to “normalize” Korean tours) are unready, under-resourced and poorly planned, I think the entire region needs to do some serious thinking [...]

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North Korea eying subs as nuclear delivery platforms?

by Craig Hooper on December 13, 2010

Last week’s breathless Washington Times “Inside the Ring” report on North Korea’s interest in nuclear anti-ship weaponry is unrealistic, but, as much as I hate to admit it, the underlying idea–using subs as a nuclear delivery platform–is plausible. But first, step away from Gertz and his China-based fear-mongering.  Let’s drop the Chinese-threat lenses, and realize [...]

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In the Pacific, the F-35B debacle is a strategic nightmare

by Craig Hooper on November 17, 2010

So here’s where we learn that fluffing up a balky, poorly-managed defense procurement program has serious geopolitical consequences. What happens in Asia if the F-35B program collapses? Well, it could get pretty ugly. For a lot of Asian Navies, the F-35B offers the only viable means to match China’s first steps into carrier aviation.  As [...]

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Battleship Admirals love the CNA “Tipping Point” Report

by Craig Hooper on October 15, 2010

The much ballyhooed Center For Naval Analysis (CNA) report, “The Navy at a Tipping Point: Maritime Dominance at Stake” is not a document that should guide high-level naval decision-makers.  As I have written before, the policy suggestions are based on some really questionable assumptions and the report is inattentive to detail.  OPNAV NOOX could have [...]

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In Press: Stoking the soft-power arms race!

by Craig Hooper on September 12, 2010

Erstwhile NextNavy amigo Christopher Albon and I pounded out another call for more U.S. hospital ships–a second Great White Fleet, as it were.  After watching many calls for new–or more–hospital ships go ignored, I can only wonder if things might change now that some new hospital ships, supported by a well-funded and savvy diplomatic corps, [...]

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