Defense & Security

Flags of the world

What leaders overseas will want to ask of the Biden administration

*VIDEO AVAILABLE: info@covermg.com*THIS PICTURE SHOWS: In one of the busts of the boat's recent tour, the Coast Guard Cutter Stratton (WMSL 752) boarding team searches a suspected smuggling vessel interdicted in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, May 31, 2020. The team seized more than 1,500 pounds of cocaine from the suspected smuggling vessel.....STORY COPY:This is the incredible moment the U.S. Coast Guard took out a drug smuggling boat’s engine with a bullet. Footage shows warning shots strafing across the water in front of the fast-moving boat in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, before a marksman disabled the vessel’s engine. It is thought that the warning shots from the helicopter would have been fired with a mounted M240 machine gun, while the disabling round would have come from a precision rifle. The scenes are among highlights of the Coast Guard Cutter Stratton patrol boat as it returned to Coast Guard Island on 29 June after a 94-day counter-drug patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. During the tour, The crew detected and interdicted five suspected drug smuggling vessels, detained 14 suspected drug smugglers and seized over 6,000 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $113 million. The Stratton's advanced capabilities include a small unmanned aircraft system, an attached Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron MH-65 helicopter and aircrew, and an embarked Law Enforcement Detachment from the Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Team. On June 27, Stratton's crew offloaded 3,720 pounds of marijuana seized in known drug-transit zones in early June by Coast Guard and U.S. Navy assets. The contraband and five suspected drug smugglers were transferred to the Department of Justice officials in San Diego for prosecution. Stratton's deployment began in late March as part of U.S. Southern Command's enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere to disrupt the flow of drugs in support of Presidential National Security

The Coast Guard and Marines should work together to enhance deterrence in the Western Pacific

Michael Sinclair and Rodrick H. McHaty

Thursday, November 12, 2020

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris face reporters after meeting with members of their coronavirus disease "Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board" in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., November 9, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Brookings experts comment on the future of US foreign policy under a Biden administration

David Dollar, Ryan Hass, Suzanne Maloney, Michael E. O’Hanlon, and Célia Belin

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump listens to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper address the daily White House coronavirus response briefing with members of the administration's coronavirus task force at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 18, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RC2GMF9QPP29/File Photo

Why did Trump fire Secretary of Defense Esper?

Michael E. O’Hanlon and Adrianna Pita

Monday, November 9, 2020

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden speaks to reporters about efforts to confront the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic after meeting with members of his Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., November 9, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RC2TZJ96K6IA

The Modi government will find a Biden presidency to be less volatile

Monday, November 9, 2020

Asia Transnational Threats Forum: Cybersecurity and cyber resilience

9:00 AM - 10:15 AM EDT

An Afghan policeman keeps watch near the site of an attack at the university of Kabul, Afghanistan November 2, 2020. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Drugs, security, and counternarcotics policies in Afghanistan

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Thursday, October 29, 2020

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg walks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper prior to a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium June 26, 2020. Virginia Mayo/Pool via REUTERS

NATO’s response to COVID-19: Lessons for resilience and readiness

Giovanna De Maio

October 2020

SOUTH KOREA- In photos taken on August 19, 2020, it shows B-1B Lancer strategic bombers, escorted by Japanese and American fighters, flying near the Korean peninsula. South Korea and the United States began their annual joint military exercises, postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. These military exercises take place in a context of persistent tensions between the two Koreas.

How the US 2020 election will determine the balance of power in Asia

Lindsey W. Ford

Tuesday, October 27, 2020