Free and Open Indo-Pacific / FOIP
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Features
Cobra Gold 2024
FORUM Staff Cobra Gold 2024 took multilateral cooperation to new heights with 30 nations engaging in or observing key training activities ranging from land, maritime and air drills to space and cyber exercises, humanitarian efforts and cultural exchanges. “We have expanded the scope of military operations to address the full spectrum of threats across all domains,” Gen. Songwit Noonpackdee, defense…
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Across The Region
Japan Assists Malaysia with Maritime Security
Japan and Malaysia have signed an assistance deal that includes a $2.8 million grant to boost Malaysia’s maritime security as Indo-Pacific nations seek to counter an increasingly assertive People’s Republic of China (PRC). Japan will provide equipment such as rescue boats and supplies under the agreement, signed by the countries’ foreign ministers in December 2023 on the sidelines of a…
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Indo-Pacific View
Dear Readers, Welcome to Indo-Pacific Defense FORUM’s issue on enduring partnerships. Partnerships come in many varieties. They can address special or broad interests, including economic, humanitarian, military and political concerns. They can be domestic, regional or global. They can involve governmental, nongovernmental and private sector entities. The United States and its Allies and Partners have built strong partnerships across the…
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Features
Transregional Commitments to the Indo-Pacific
Forum Staff With deepening power competition, population shifts and growing economies in the Indo-Pacific, global stakeholders are refining, and in many cases expanding, their strategic investments and presence in the region. Many now count a Free and Open Indo-Pacific as vital to their own geopolitical and economic success. “The vast majority of countries throughout the region have rallied around the…
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Features
Freedom of the Seas
FORUM Staff The United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) conducted a regional campaign supporting a Combined Joint All-Domain Operations (CJADO) effort throughout the past year to ensure economic prosperity worldwide via safe, secure and open sea passages. USINDOPACOM coordinated the campaign with other U.S. combatant commands (COCOM) and like-minded Allies and Partners using routine operations across the globe to demonstrate defense…
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Across The Region
Protecting Sea Lines of Communication
The oceans and seas that dominate the Indo-Pacific present a challenge of immense proportions to safeguarding sovereignty and upholding freedom of navigation and commerce — an obstacle that military planners call the “tyranny of distance.” Increasingly, satellites, sensors, uncrewed aerial and surface vessels, and other technologies — combined with comprehensive information-sharing endeavors among like-minded nations — are key to bridging…
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Features
Upholding International Norms in the Skies
FORUM Staff A People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) fighter jet intercepted a Canadian Armed Forces CP-140 Aurora aircraft multiple times in international airspace in October 2023 in a “dangerous and reckless” manner, yet another example of Beijing’s disregard for freedom of navigation and aircrew safety, officials said. Such unsafe and unprofessional activities risk midair collisions and escalation. The nonstandard intercepts…
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Features
Shared Vision
FORUM Staff Deterring war is the main reason to prepare for war, Gen. Romeo Brawner, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff, told FORUM on the sidelines of the May 2023 Land Forces Pacific (LANPAC) Symposium & Exposition in Hawaii. Multilateral training and exercises are gaining headway with widespread acceptance among like-minded militaries throughout the Indo-Pacific, Brawner said…
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Features
Ocean of Data
FORUM STAFF | PHOTOS BY INTERNATIONAL MONITORING, CONTROL AND SURVEILLANCE NETWORK Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a global scourge: 1 in 5 fish sold is illegally caught. The Indo-Pacific, with 65% of the world’s oceans and more than half of its population, is rife with fishing operations that damage national economies, push depleted fish stocks toward collapse, harm…
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Features
Protecting Civilians During Conflict
FORUM Staff Territorial disputes, political ambitions and resource competition often spark or escalate armed conflicts. The resulting wars, regardless of their cause, come with complicated consequences. Among them: short- and long-term devastation, and civilian deaths that account for nearly 90% of wartime casualties, according to a 2022 United Nations Security Council report. One of the grimmest pictures of conflict’s toll…
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