The 26th JINSA Flag & General Officers Trip took place in September during a period of political and military flux. The JINSA delegation, consisting of 10 retired American admirals and generals, one professional staff member and four members of JINSA’s Board of Directors, traveled widely and met with Israeli civilian, military and intelligence professionals, as well as American Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, the U.S. Security Coordinator for the Israel-Palestinian Authority.

Cross-strait tensions decreased dramatically in March when Kuomintang candidate Ma Ying-jeou, won the island republic's presidency by 16 percentage points over his Democratic Progressive Party rival, Frank Hsieh. Having captured a two-thirds majority in December elections for the Taiwanese parliament, the Legislative Yuan, Ma and his KMT after eight years out of power must now make good on campaign promises and please a constituency worried over a sluggish economy, diminished relations with the United States and increased tensions with mainland China.