Author: Defenceline Webdesk

On July 6, the 14th Dalai Lama turned 91. In Dharamshala, the Himalayan town that has served as his home in exile since 1959, the day was marked, as it was last year, with long-life prayers, khata scarves, and delegations of devotees from across Asia and beyond. But the birthday of the Dalai Lama is no longer merely a religious observance. It has become an annual reminder of a clock that is ticking on one of Asia’s most combustible questions: who will choose the 15th Dalai Lama. Behind that question lies a broader contest between India and China over which…

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Michael Hochberg, Long Walls The war in Iran, while it has degraded Iranian capabilities considerably, has not achieved regime change, and has not resulted in any softening of Iranian regime… Source link

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On July 6, China fired off a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) carrying a training warhead from a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy nuclear-powered submarine into the Pacific Ocean. This marked China’s second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch into the Pacific region, following the PLA Rocket Force’s test of a land-based ICBM in 2024. As in 2024, Beijing did not publicly disclose detailed information about the operation. The submarine’s location, the missile type, and the missile’s flight path all remain unknown. This lack of transparency makes it difficult for outside observers to assess the current development of the PLA’s nuclear strike…

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A draconian new law in China took effect on July 1, after passing the National People’s Congress back in March. The “Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress” is the end result of a long shift in governance of China’s minority groups, 55 in total. Far from the post-1949 model of ethnic autonomy, as this new legal framework attempts to “forge” (zhulao) the country’s many distinct peoples into a collective national identity. Southeast Asia has seen this before, evidenced in Thailand’s vague Thainess policy (khwam pen thai), a fascist effort under military strongman Phibun Songkhram. Beijing’s new law forces schools,…

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The global debate surrounding critical minerals – and the geopolitical race to secure access to these materials – has thus far largely centered on a familiar group of resources. In recent years, rare earths, graphite, and lithium have arguably become synonymous with strategic competition as governments seek to diversify supply chains and reduce dependence on Chinese production.  However, this predominant focus on upstream mining risks overlooking a quieter but potentially more consequential source of geopolitical leverage. Today, strategic advantage puts a heavy emphasis on a state’s ability to control the industrial ecosystems that transform those minerals into indispensable technologies. A…

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Saab’s GlobalEye system will offer multi-domain surveillance across air, land and sea from a single platform. Credit: Saab. NATO has announced the commencement of formal negotiations with Saab regarding the potential acquisition of up to ten GlobalEye Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) systems. Nato secretary general Mark Rutte made the announcement during the Nato summit held in Ankara, Türkiye. Discover B2B Marketing That Performs Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms. Find out more According to Nato’s 7 July release, 11 members including Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the…

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