Category: Latest Issues

In this essay, the author first describes the concept of national security and how it is typically achieved before attempting to shed light on the concept of Transparency. Next, viewing Transparency as an instrument, he identifies the mechanisms underpinning its effects and discusses its value an...

In this essay, the author discusses the ideas of three military strategists in their analysis of Clausewitz’s Centre of Gravity (COG) concept—the Clausewitzian Traditionalists, the Rejectionists and the Accommodators. Specifically, the author examines the ideas of the Rejectionists as they reject...

According to the author, the security dilemma is an unfortunate reality, perhaps an enduring feature of the self-help international system. He explains that threat assessments exist in part because of the security dilemma, and these assessments can become self-fulfilling prophecies. This happens ...

The essay views radical Islamic terrorist organisations as anti-fragile systems to understand better the resilience of these organisations and the requirements of a successful counter-terrorism containment strategy. Despite the 20-year Global War on Terrorism, the scourge of terrorism has not bee...

Using Carl von Clausewitz’s “trinity” as a framework for analysis, this article compares the performances of Generals Arthur Percival and Douglas MacArthur as commanders during the Malayan and Philippine campaigns in World War II respectively. Both campaigns ultimately ended in defeat by the Japa...

The concept of Centre of Gravity (CoG) remains a cornerstone in military planning, yet consensus on its definition eludes both practitioners and academics. This ambiguity stems from Carl von Clausewitz’s varied interpretations, compounded by divergent perspectives within different military branch...

“Operational art” – the grey area between strategy and tactics – has been a much-debated concept since it entered the Western military lexicon more than four decades ago. If the concept is indeed crucial on the battlefield and central to the profession of arms for military commanders, we ought to...

In this essay, the author states that despite the increasing focus on irregular conflicts, today’s threat environment is really a hybrid of conventional and irregular warfare. In his opinion, small states need to retain the ability to deter and prevail in conventional conflict as their geostrateg...

In the mid-20th century, the governments of Malaya and South Vietnam initiated population-resettlement programmes as part of their overall efforts to fight the ongoing communist insurgencies in their countries. The British colonials housed hundreds of thousands of Chinese squatters in “New Villag...

In this essay, the author examines the view that traditional Non-Offensive Defence (NOD) is not an effective military strategy in current times. He supports his arguments by analysing the origins of this military strategy and its fundamental principles. He then follows up with a discussion on the...