The Watch

THE WATCH STAFF When the Air Force deployed its first Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the United States was fighting the Vietnam War and an Army nurse had recently become the military’s first female general. More than 50 years later, 400 Minuteman IIIs still stand guard in their silos. “Minuteman III was a 10-year weapon system that was asked to last 60 years,” Maj. Gen. Anthony W. Genatempo, commander of the U.S. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (AFNWC), said of the 1970 introduction of the ballistic missile. Genatempo spoke about the Minuteman III’s proposed replacement — the Ground-Based Strategic…

THE WATCH STAFF In 2015, a 61-year-old Florida mail carrier lifted off in a gyrocopter from Pennsylvania bound for Washington, D.C. He flew through protected airspace before landing the aircraft on the U.S. Capitol lawn. U.S. Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, in a September 14 online conversation called “Homeland Defense is a Global Endeavor,” used the incident to illustrate how artificial intelligence (AI) is now detecting threats that may have once been missed. “If it flies, we need to identify it. … Either friendly or foe. It could be a military threat, it could be a civilian threat,” said…

Indo-Pacific Defense FORUM Staff When it comes to engagement in the Arctic, China’s approach is much softer than its aggressive tactics in the South China Sea, where it remains in constant disagreement with nations about maritime rights and often instigates spats over freedom of navigation, according to some Arctic experts. The reasons behind the contrasting approaches are many. Two scholars agreed that China faces an increasingly complex atmosphere in its attempts to contribute to the intergovernmental Arctic Council, collaborate with Arctic states and make the case that the future of the Arctic region is a matter of Chinese national security.…

Professor Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen and Dr. Mariia Kobzeva/UiT-The Arctic University of Norway There are two misleading narratives circulating about the Arctic in international politics that cloud the view of the region today. First, that the Arctic is removed from or exceptional from international politics. This narrative became prevalent after the Ukraine crisis in 2014, when some observers expressed surprise at the continuing circumpolar cooperation in many fields between Russia and the seven other Arctic states while relations involving Russia, the European Union, NATO and their member states sharply deteriorated. The second is that the Arctic became part of international politics nearly…

Indo-Pacific Defense Forum Majority-Muslim governments in Central Asia have avoided condemning the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) persecution of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang not only because the PRC’s influence has been growing in the region but also because they want Chinese investment. The Taliban, in its return to power in Afghanistan, has made the same political and economic calculation. In a July 2021 meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, high-level Taliban representatives pledged that in exchange for economic support, they would not allow Afghanistan, which stands at the crossroads of Central and South Asia, to become…

THE WATCH STAFF Norway’s recent announcement that it plans to deploy P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft to the Arctic in 2022 is the latest step in the country’s effort to strengthen its defense capabilities in a region of strategic competition. Norway signed a Supplementary Defense Cooperation Agreement (SDCA) with the United States, a NATO ally, on April 16, 2021. The deal allows the U.S. to build facilities at three Norwegian airfields and one naval base but will not amount to separate bases. The Ministry of Defence has already approved Evenes Air Station in northern Norway as the main base for its…

THE WATCH STAFF The Department of the Air Force has chosen an Ohio base as the preferred home for the first Air National Guard (ANG) cyberwarfare wing in the United States. With the August 25, 2021, selection of Mansfield-Lahm ANG Base, the cyberwarfare wing will further elevate the National Guard’s capability to be — as U.S. Air Force Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel, former chief of the National Guard Bureau, once called it — the “Swiss Army knife” of the U.S. military. In this mission, the tool used is the expertise in cybersecurity and information technology that citizen Soldiers and Airmen…

THE WATCH STAFF The William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies held a recent Maritime Security and Gender Integration Workshop that emphasized, in the words of Dr. Veronica De Allende of the Center for Naval Analyses, an important truth: “No nation can afford to ignore half of its population.” The September 8-9 online dialogue was held in conjunction with U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Southern Command. Both commands incorporate the principles of women, peace and security (WPS) into their strategies and operations. The workshop focused on WPS, which emphasizes the importance of female participation and decision-making in peace and…

LT. COL. RYAN B. LEY/U.S. AIR FORCE Historically, the Arctic has been considered “high north, low tension.” While the immediate prospect of conflict remains low, a number of indicators point to how the Arctic may be heating up, literally and figuratively. In a literal sense, climate change is causing the Arctic to heat up at a rate twice as fast as the global average. The resulting loss of sea ice allows increasingly open access to navigation and natural resources. Russia seeks to exploit these resources — oil and natural gas, in particular — forecasting a growth in the Arctic share…

FORUM Staff The United States said it dealt a blow against forced labor and illegal fishing in the Pacific islands in August 2021 when it blocked a Fijian-flagged vessel from importing tuna into the U.S. U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued an order to stop imports from Hangton No. 112, a longline fishing boat operated by a Chinese national, The Associated Press (AP) reported. “Companies that exploit their workers have no place doing business in the United States,” U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a news release. “Products made from forced labor not only exploit workers, but…