PM Suga of Japan to visit Vietnam and Indonesia: Anti-China hawks need silencing Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga claims to want to preserve the mantle of his predecessor, Shinzo Abe. Yet, some individuals in his Cabinet appear more hawkish towards China and the Russian Federation. Therefore, if…
Southeast Asia: Crucible of Indigenous Survival Special Contribution: Gideon Sim The misleading portrayal of Southeast Asia as an oasis of economic growth and calm in global media belies the boiling over of ethnic tensions and discontent. From Mindanao where Philippine government forces extrajudicially kill indigenous Lumad and Moro minorities; to West Papua where the Indonesian…
Turkey increased military sales six-fold to Azerbaijan: Nagorno-Karabakh Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Military sales by Turkey to Azerbaijan have increased six-fold this year. Alongside this, Turkey is utilizing international Islamist terrorists just like in Northern Syria and more recently Libya. Therefore, the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh – and Turkey’s historical animosity…
Japan protests after China patrol incursion: Early test for PM Suga Noriko Watanabe and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan is facing his first geopolitical test after two Chinese patrol ships entered the vicinity of the Senkaku Islands. This comes shortly after recent anti-China stances according to political elites…
Armenian losses mount in Nagorno-Karabakh: NATO Turkey, terrorism, and France Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Under President Erdogan of Turkey, this nation continues to meddle against the Arabic speaking and regional Christian world. It matters not if upsetting Gulf states by supporting Qatar and its role in backing the Muslim Brotherhood,…
Armenia and Azerbaijan clash over Nagorno-Karabakh: Russia needs to warn Turkey Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh are nothing new in recent times. However, with Armenia announcing a general mobilization and imposing martial law, this time the situation appears more dangerous. Both nations have blamed…
Japan and diplomacy with China: Australia, India, Japan, and America to meet Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Prime Miniter Yoshihide Suga is the new leader of Japan. Thus, the meeting between senior officials from America, Australia, India, and Japan in Tokyo early next month will be analyzed carefully. It is known…
Colombia massacres keep on mounting Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Increasing levels of violence in Colombia this year are setting off alarm bells. This is based on the fragility of this nation over many decades. Therefore, in parts of the country, the centralized state is but a figment of the imagination.…
Japan and South Korea and the GSOMIA merry-go-round: Japan should focus on China and Russia Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The Korean Peninsula is divided between North Korea and South Korea because both Korea’s don’t trust each other. Thus with South Korea repeatedly turning against Japan when relations between both Korea’s…
Japan to mark the 75th anniversary of Hiroshima while protected by US nuclear umbrella Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The government of Japan will mark the 75-year anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. Like usual, an extremely solemn reminder of the brutality of war. However, many words relating to joining…
Afghanistan admits to 3,500 military deaths in 2020: Reverberations of Obama Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The government of Afghanistan acknowledged that over 3,500 security forces have been killed since February peace talks. These talks resulted in a frayed peace agreement between America and the Taliban. However, on the ground, the…
America, Australia, and Japan in Naval Exercises in Asia Pacific waters Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The nations of Australia, Japan, and the United States are currently holding trilateral naval exercises in the waters of the Asia Pacific. Thus democratic nations are showing commitment toward the freedom of sea-lanes throughout the…
Moscow Develops Next-Generation Combat Infantry System Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor By: Roger McDermott The Jamestown Foundation Moscow plans to develop and introduce next-generation infantry combat systems (ICS) to further advance this high-technology feature of the modern and future Russian soldier. The current Ratnik (“Warrior”) ICS will be replaced, by 2025, with the new Sotnik (“Centurion”)…
Okinawa already burdened by U.S. military bases now fears Covid-19 crisis Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times It is known that approximately 100 infections of coronavirus (Covid-19) have hit several military bases of the United States (U.S.) in Okinawa. This will increase internal discontent in Okinawa because this part of Japan is…
Iran hit by many recent mysterious explosions: Israel, cyberwars, and shadows Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Iran is reeling this year from the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani on the orders of President Donald Trump of America – to Iran accidentally shooting down a Ukrainian civilian plane that killed 176 individuals.…
Russian Military Seeking to Counter Growing Chinese Role in Central Asia Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor By: Paul Goble The Jamestown Foundation In March 2019, Dmitry Zhelobov, a specialist on China at Russia’s Urals Federal University, warned that Beijing was shifting from relying on soft power in Central Asia to using hard power. If Russia did…
India loses 20 soldiers in a border clash with belligerent China: Covid-19 convulsions Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times At least 20 soldiers from India have died after border clashes with China in an area claimed by both. It remains unknown how many soldiers from China were killed in violent clashes. Reuters…
Many soldiers killed in Mali after Sunni Islamists attack an armed convoy Noriko Watanabe and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The ethnic and religious crisis in Mali is tearing the country apart. Only last week you had another ethnic massacre that killed many. This week it is a brutal Sunni Islamist insurgency responsible for…
Russian Navy Prioritizes Tsirkon Hypersonic Missiles Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor By: Roger McDermott The Jamestown Foundation Moscow’s political-military leadership places growing emphasis on long-range stand-off precision strike systems as a key element in its ongoing modernization program, complementing efforts to strengthen “pre-nuclear” deterrence and offering additional conventional capabilities. One emerging pattern is to equip Russia’s…
Mozambique army faces new attack by Sunni Islamists: Tanzania is concerned Chika Mori and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The armed forces of Mozambique continue to face fresh attacks by Sunni Islamists in northern parts of this nation. Recently, the government of Tanzania sent military reinforcements to border areas. However, the internal crisis is…
US intention in Syria is a quagmire for Russia: Cyprus, Turkey, and Islamists Noriko Watanabe and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The endless conflict in Syria is at a dreaded stalemate where America and Turkey seek an endless quagmire for Syria and the Russian Federation. For America, even if Sunni Islamists have cleansed Alawites,…
Russia’s Aerospace Forces Prepare Training for Kinzhal Hypersonic Missiles Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor By: Roger McDermott The Jamestown Foundation Russia’s Aerospace Forces (Vozdushno Kosmicheskikh Sil—VKS) are preparing to create a MiG-31K regiment in the Siberian city of Kansk, in the Central Military District (MD), fully equipped with Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. The training of flight crews…
Tanzania sends the army to border areas with Mozambique: Sunni Islamist insurgency Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The government of Tanzania is sending extra troops to the border area with Mozambique. This comes on the back of the growing Sunni Islamist insurgency in Northern Mozambique. Therefore, despite the border on the…
ISIS upsurge during Ramadan in Iraq: Political inertia, geopolitics, and coronavirus Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The period of Ramadan often witnesses a spike in Sunni Islamic terrorism and this year is no different. However, when it comes to ISIS (Islamic State – IS) then this is more worrisome because of…
Arms from Yemen will Fuel Conflict in the Horn of Africa Publication: Terrorism Monitor By: Michael Horton The Jamestown Foundation Arms trafficking via the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea has a long history. However, the wars in Yemen and the vast number of arms and materiel provided by Saudi Arabia and the United…
Chad loses 92 soldiers after a major attack by Sunni Islamic terrorists Boutros Hussein and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The Sunni Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram is known to have killed at least 92 soldiers in Chad. President Idriss Déby Itno of Chad will certainly be alarmed by the brutal attack by Boko…
Islamists in Mozambique take a key town in Cabo Delgado: Wagner, OAM, and Black Hawk Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Increasing Sunni Islamist attacks in northern Mozambique is creating mayhem in a nation already blighted by poverty. Hence, the news that an important town had fallen will have taken authorities by…
Potential for al-Qaeda-Islamic State Cooperation in Afghanistan Publication: Terrorism Monitor By: Farhan Zahid The Jamestown Foundation Frequent speculation has recently been posited that Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda affiliates could eventually coalesce again, or at the least, begin cooperating at a more notable level than was seen at the height of the conflict in Syria.…
Putin and Erdoğan Scramble to Find Workable Idlib Ceasefire Formula Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor By: Pavel Felgenhauer The Jamestown Foundation President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, met for an emergency summit in Moscow on March 5, in a last-ditch attempt to defuse the confrontation in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib.…
Many Turkish soldiers killed in Syria: Turkey is exacerbating the crisis Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times According to reports at least 33 Turkish soldiers have been killed in Syria. This is following on from recent tensions between both nations based on Turkey supporting various Takfiri Islamist groups. At the same time,…
Niger and France kill approximately 120 Islamist terrorists in the Muslim mosaic of Niger Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The armed forces of Niger in a joint military operation with France are claiming to have killed approximately 120 Sunni Islamic terrorists. This news will be widely welcomed in a nation that…
Counterinsurgency in the Sahel is at Risk of Unraveling Publication: Terrorism Monitor By: J. H. Elswood The Jamestown Foundation In recent weeks, international attention has focused on the consequences of heightened U.S.-Iranian tensions in the Middle East, and more recently, on an attempted jihadist attack on the streets of South London on February 2. Away…
