On December 21, 2011, Lt. Gen. Stephen G. Wood, USAF (ret.), former Deputy Commander, U.S. Forces Korea, briefed JINSA leaders via conference call on the theater and regional implications of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death.

The United States’ decision to “pivot” back to the Asia-Pacific is welcome among its allies. But what about its most assertive rising power?

In the latest JINSA Global Briefing, M.D. Nalapat, Vice-Chair of the Manipal Advanced Research Group and UNESCO Peace Chair as well as Professor of Geopolitics at Manipal University in India's Karnataka State, explains that in the 21st century version of the Great Game, China seeks to replace the U.S. as the dominant player in Asia by manipulating Pakistan to ensure a NATO failure in Afghanistan.

In the wake of President Barak Obama's China trip this past November and the U.S.-China joint statement that resulted, many in Taiwan are apprehensive about Taiwan-U.S. ties and Taiwan's security, and for good reason, claims Dr. Parris Chang, writing in the latest JINSA Global Briefing. Chang is CEO of the Taiwan Institute for Political Economic and Strategic Studies.

China has been developing military and trade relationships in the Middle East that will come at the expense of American interests. In this most recent Global Briefing, Dr. Parris Chang, President of the Taiwan Institute for Political Economic and Strategic Studies, details Beijing's evolving policy toward the Middle East.

M.D. Nalapat, Professor of Geopolitics at India's Manipal University, explains that India's capable diplomatic service is being stymied by a wall of ambivalence erected by the New Delhi's top policy makers, both within the political crust as well as the bureaucracy. Meanwhile, Beijing's dynamic and decisive foreign policy is winning China countries deemed important to India's security.

JINSA Advisory Board Member Ambassador Harvey Feldmen explains in an exclusive article that it would be difficult to think of an American president who disdained Taiwan more than George W. Bush. In Taipei, however, they think Democrats are more likely to succumb to the lure of China and in doing so, sacrifice Taiwan's interests.

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.