As the United Nations enters its 75th year, the world is still rife with mistrust: the United States remains the dominant superpower but is on the wane, while Asian power is growing in the face of an increasingly fractured Europe, with an explosive Middle East sandwiched in between. In the New York headquarters of the […]

FORT BELVOIR: The Army must engage in “transformational change” — not incremental improvements — to achieve overmatch, deter great-power competition, and win the future fight, the Army’s top officer said Tuesday. “‘People first, winning matters,’ is more than just a slogan,” said Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville. “People first is a philosophy … […]

DefenceTalkSince 1981, military personnel have come and gone through the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, to prepare for missions around the world. These month-long rotations are usually geared to prepare a unit for an upcoming mission. For the 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, their May 2016 rotation to NTC was a way to […]https://www.defencetalk.com/ghost-brigade-soldiers-prepare-for-future-conflicts-67556/

DefenceTalkLeader Kim Jong-Un has ordered North Korea’s nuclear arsenal readied for pre-emptive use at anytime, in an expected ramping up of rhetoric following the UN Security Council’s adoption of tough new sanctions on Pyongyang. The North’s nuclear warheads must be deployed “on standby so as to be fired at any moment,” Kim was quoted as […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-leader-orders-nuclear-arsenal-on-standby-66923/

DefenceTalkExpanding global conflicts require new priorities for U.S. special operations forces, the principal deputy assistant secretary for special operations and low-intensity conflict told the House Armed Services Committee’s emerging threats and capabilities subcommittee here yesterday. Theresa Whelan, performing the duties of the assistant secretary of defense for SOLIC, and Army Gen. Joseph L. Votel, commander […]https://www.defencetalk.com/special-operators-challenges-call-for-new-priorities-dod-officials-say-66919/

DefenceTalkThe US military will continue to operate “wherever” international law allows, including in the South China Sea, a top US admiral said in Beijing on Tuesday, a week after America infuriated China by sailing close to artificial islands it is building in the contested waters. “International seas and airspace belong to everyone and are not […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-to-operate-wherever-law-allows-in-south-china-sea-65735/

DefenceTalkGHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN: Fighting flared in eastern Afghanistan Monday as Taliban insurgents threatened to storm another provincial capital, two weeks after their lightning capture of northern Kunduz city that marked their biggest military victory in 14 years. The attempt to seize Ghazni city was repelled by Afghan forces but it raised security alarm bells as the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/afghan-forces-repel-taliban-attack-on-provincial-capital-of-ghazni-65601/