Author: Defenceline Webdesk

In September 2026, political leaders and party representatives from Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe gathered in Seoul to launch a new forum: the Inter-Continental Dialogue among Political Parties (ICDPP). Your correspondent attended the inaugural meeting as part of the CDP delegation and spoke with Chung Eui-yong about how the ICDPP emerged and the principle behind it. The inaugural meeting brought together 23 political parties from 23 countries, including 19 governing and four opposition parties. Participants included Chung Eui-yong, chair of the Standing Committee of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) and former South Korean foreign minister; Mushahid…

Debate over the three non-nuclear principles has resurfaced in Japan as the government of Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae prepares a new National Security Strategy, due at the end of 2026. Even the status of the principles is contested. Some regard them as the country’s foundational principle (kokuze), while others describe them as a policy guideline, suggesting that the government is free to change it. Prime Minister Sato Eisaku first announced the principles in 1967, and the Diet has reaffirmed them on multiple occasions since then. The principles state that Japan will neither possess nor produce nuclear weapons, nor permit their…

In the leadup to the U.S.-China summit in September 2026, President Xi Jinping attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and the BRICS summit in Delhi. He also visited the Middle East — all between August and September. What is notable is that in speeches delivered at both the SCO and BRICS summits, Xi made heavy use of the term “Global South.” This reflects China’s positioning of the SCO and BRICS as gatherings of the Global South, even though Russia and Turkey are among their members. How, precisely, does China understand and deploy this term “Global South”…

India’s family offices are becoming a significant force in the global economy. According to a report by The Economic Times and market intelligence firm 1Lattice, the country now hosts more than 300 family offices managing over $30 billion in assets. High-net-worth families with more than $30 million in assets are projected to nearly double, from 16,000 in 2025 to 26,000 by 2030, with intergenerational wealth transfer reaching $1.3-1.5 trillion over the next decade. A generational shift is underway as well, with over half of family offices now featuring millennials or Gen Z members in investment decisions. The rise of younger…

The recent economic headlines in Indonesia have been pessimistic to say the least. There are serious concerns that President Prabowo Subianto’s signature social development initiatives – the free nutritious meals (Makanan Bergizi Gratis, “MBG) program and the Red-White Village Cooperatives (Kopdes Merah Putih) – are straining the national budget and will limit long-term growth. The president’s reluctance to abandon or significantly downsize these programs has helped inspire protests in June against an agenda which many fear is “bankrupting Indonesia.” Protestors and investors alike have additional complaints about Indonesia’s policy trajectory, including creeping militarization of the civil service, state control over…

U.S. President Donald Trump’s push for a fourth summit with Kim Jong Un has so far been rejected by the North Korean leader, who may be playing hard to get. However, based on our decades analyzing North Korea, participation in countless face-to-face meetings with North Koreans – official and unofficial – and numerous visits to North Korea, we think that some in Pyongyang may believe their country could benefit greatly from a fourth summit, though not in terms of what Washington may think. In view of North Korea and Kim’s experience, especially his three summits during Trump’s first term in…

Conflicts in Ukraine and Iran have shown how drones have carved out a role on the modern battlefield, which will only grow as technology advances and less expensive options proliferate. Regardless of the role drones are filling on the battlefield today – everything from information gathering to facilitating logistics and combat operations – how effectively they carry out that role in the future will come down to how much cognitive load these machines place on our warfighters in the field. Palladyne AI describes the technology that enables machines to sense, reason, and act in the physical world as decentralized embodied…

Among a cadre of Wall Street executives brought into the Pentagon during President Donald Trump’s second term, George K. Kollitides II has emerged as a powerbroker with a broad mandate to improve procurement of weapons and critical minerals.The longtime partner at the private equity firm Alvarez & Marsal Capital has framed his tour of duty in government as a service to the country. But the work he’s leading has also been a boon to his old friends in the private sector, government procurement records show.In April, months after Kollitides had started work at the Pentagon, he was listed on a…

In July 2015, I was invited to the residence of U Aung Thaung, a senior and influential leader of Myanmar’s Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), in Naypyidaw. We discussed the approaching general elections and parliamentary nominations for the constituencies in northern Rakhine state. What happened during that meeting has remained outside the public record for more than 11 years. I want to disclose it now because the political question at its center – the recognition of Rohingya identity and rights – remains unresolved. It is also relevant to how ASEAN engages with Myanmar’s military leadership today. I was elected…

WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin today revealed the PAC-3 Edge, its offering for the Army’s future Patriot interceptor that the company says can fly further and hit more capable targets than the current PAC-3 missile. Tim Cahill, president of Lockheed’s missiles and fire control unit, said the new interceptor is meant for what Lockheed called the Army’s Future Interceptor program, which he indicated seeks to develop a next-gen version of the Patriot’s current PAC-3 missile segment enhancement (MSE). Cahill said Lockheed was one of two companies selected to advance in the program. He did not identify the other company, and the…