{"id":35427,"date":"2017-11-10T14:59:16","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T03:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=35427"},"modified":"2017-11-10T15:22:04","modified_gmt":"2017-11-10T04:22:04","slug":"aspi-suggests-65","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/aspi-suggests-65\/","title":{"rendered":"ASPI suggests"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/strong><\/p>\n The world<\/strong><\/p>\n The decades-old Iranian\u2013Saudi rivalry ramped up this week after Saudi Arabia accused Iran of supplying arms to the conflict in Yemen<\/a> and using Hezbollah to exert political influence in Lebanon. The Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri, has resigned<\/a>, which Hezbollah claims was the result of Saudi pressure. Gulf countries loyal to Saudi Arabia then ordered all their citizens to leave Lebanon<\/a> and banned future travel\u2014echoing the abrupt ostracisation of Qatar earlier this year over Doha\u2019s allegedly warm ties with Tehran. The Harvard Kennedy School\u2019s Belfer Center explains<\/a> this complex and bitter hegemonic rivalry over power and influence, and this piece<\/a> from The Atlantic <\/em>provides the view from Beirut of the implications of a Saudi leadership emboldened to counter Iranian regional influence. Complementing that, this New York Times<\/em> op-ed<\/a> explains the recent series of events in Saudi Arabia\u2014involving the arrests of various princes, ministers and military personnel\u2014and why the actions of Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman to shake the Saudi political order, as well as his approach to confronting Iran, should be treated with caution.<\/p>\n With Donald Trump in Asia, the spotlight is on his foreign policy<\/a> and his handling of some of the most important US relationships. This piece<\/a> from the Washington Post<\/em> scratches the thin veneer off the Trump\u2013Abe relationship to take a closer look at Trump\u2019s treatment of his Japanese \u2018sidekick\u2019. But the main event of the tour is Trump\u2019s visit to China, and the latest round of power games between Trump and Xi. The New York Times<\/em> has both sides covered, with one piece on Xi\u2019s plans to woo Trump<\/a> and another on Trump\u2019s strategy to befriend Xi<\/a>. Following Chinese internet protocol clearly isn\u2019t part of the plan; even the \u2018great firewall of China\u2019 isn\u2019t enough<\/a> to stop Trump tweeting. To test your knowledge of the year since Trump\u2019s election, check out the ABC\u2019s anniversary quiz<\/a>.<\/p>\n Over in the UK, the Guardian<\/em> looks at<\/a> how a complete collapse of trust in institutions has rendered the UK ungovernable, amid a series of dodgy cabinet ministerial resignations (the defence secretary\u2019s \u2018Pestminster\u2019<\/a> scandal and the international development secretary\u2019s shady behaviour<\/a>). The New Statesman<\/em> presents<\/a> an unforgiving profile of Boris Johnson waiting in the wings to make his move into Number 10.<\/p>\n A long investigative piece from Foreign Policy<\/em><\/a> highlights the illegal arms trade in Syria, which is facilitated by messaging apps such as Telegram. A variety of weapons can be traced back to CIA-run programs that supplied anti-Assad rebels with TOW missiles.<\/p>\n Politico<\/em>\u2019s latest great read<\/a> (with accompanying two-part podcast) spotlights the innate sexual harassment and sexism in Washington\u2019s national security sector. It documents women\u2019s barriers to entry and the unique challenges they face. Time<\/em> published this piece<\/a> written by three women who participated in the podcast, arguing that a cultural shift is required and that men must lead the way for the women leaders of the future. The New Yorker<\/em> tells the incredible story<\/a> of Harvey Weinstein\u2019s use of private security contractors, including ex-Mossad agents, to silence sexual assault allegations.<\/p>\n Two pieces for the bookish this week. The Guardian<\/em> examines Rudyard Kipling\u2019s role<\/a> writing pro-imperial propaganda to help quell Indian nationalist dissent during World War I. And the Daily Beast<\/em><\/a> tells the story of \u2018the greatest literary crime in history\u2019. Worried about the reputation of the recently deceased Lord Byron, his closest friends torched his unpublished memoirs after his untimely death.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all things Lenin in this photo essay from The Atlantic<\/em><\/a> to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Russia\u2019s October Revolution. And to segue into our tech section: here\u2019s a cool New York Times<\/em> infographic<\/a> documenting a year of news stories in push notifications.<\/p>\n Tech geek of the week<\/strong><\/p>\n Limits on warhead weights for South Korea\u2019s ballistic missiles were scrapped<\/a> in recent discussions with the US. South Korea is also considering the possibility<\/a> of acquiring nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs<\/a>), as well as advanced \u2018JSTARs\u2019 aircraft for targeting and reconnaissance of North Korean ground forces.<\/p>\n Japan<\/a> is considering buying two ground-based \u2018Aegis Ashore\u2019 missile defence systems to complement similar systems on its Kongo<\/a> and Atago<\/a> class destroyers. The US also looks set to boost<\/a> its ground-based mid-course interceptor capability with a fourth<\/a> silo field at Fort Greely in Alaska.<\/p>\n With all eyes on Asia, it\u2019s important not to forget instability in Europe. The German Army is looking at six scenarios<\/a> in its Strategic Perspective 2040 study, which explores the possible collapse of the EU (among other scenarios).<\/p>\n Concerns are growing over Russia\u2019s increasingly entangled<\/a> nuclear and non-nuclear forces, and about the counter-space capabilities of China and Russia. On space war, the nominee for NASA administrator, Jim Bridenstine, was blunt<\/a> (if perhaps hyperbolic), stating, \u2018We are in the most threatened position in the history of the country\u2019.<\/p>\n Podcasts<\/strong><\/p>\n For BNE Intellinews<\/a> this week, Ben Aris interviews Professor Jia Qingguo of Peking University about China\u2019s relationship with Russia and \u2018one belt, one road\u2019.<\/p>\n Episode 48 of The Dead Prussian podcast<\/a> takes a decidedly classical turn, with Bryan Doerrires discussing using ancient Greek tragedies to help communalise the trauma of war with veterans in the US. It\u2019s slow to start, but your perseverance will be rewarded.<\/p>\n Video<\/strong><\/p>\n Why are so many people stateless? Al Jazeera\u2019s Inside Story<\/a> documents the plight of over 10 million people around the world with no legal nationality (25 mins).<\/p>\n Events<\/strong><\/p>\n Canberra, 23\u201324 November: ANU\u2019s \u2018in their words | in our words\u2019 conference is a two-day discussion on contemporary issues of religion. Tickets here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Canberra, 27 November at 1730: The Strategic and Defence Studies Centre hosts the 2017 Robert O\u2019Neill War Studies Lecture with Professor Rosemary Foot discussing \u2018Chinese power and the idea of a \u201cresponsible state\u201d in a changing world order\u2019. Register here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The world The decades-old Iranian\u2013Saudi rivalry ramped up this week after Saudi Arabia accused Iran of supplying arms to the conflict in Yemen and using Hezbollah to exert political influence in Lebanon. The Lebanese prime …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":523,"featured_media":35432,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[354,1428,1202,1078,2080],"class_list":["post-35427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-asia","tag-donald-trump","tag-missile-defence","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-sexism"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n