The Geopolitics of East Asia & the Western Pacific: Focal Point Korea: The strategic position of the People’s Republic of China in East Asia and the world is conditioned by several factors. These have led to a new Chinese strategy that has the possibility for conflict, with the Korean Peninsula being a potential flashpoint.

Desert One War - Military Conflict in the Persian Gulf 1978-1981: The Iranian Revolution of 1979 caught the US by surprise. Before long the US embassy was stormed and its staff taken hostage, resulting in a hastily-organized rescue attempt that failed. The lessons learned from the incident led to a renaissance of US special operations that can still be seen today.

Operation Serval - Expeditionary Warfare in Central Africa: Islamist insurgents were threatening to take control of Mali in early 2013. In a lightning campaign that spring, French and allied African forces inflicted a stunning defeat on the Islamists.

The Dragon That Engulfed the Sun - Chinese Invasion of Japan? A war between China and Japan seems a remote possibility, but it is a possibility. The question is whether China has the military wherewithal to stage a successful invasion of Japan.

Sixth Fleet - Naval Confrontation in the Cold War: As the Cold War deepened, the US Navy took over protection of the Mediterranean Sea from the British Royal Navy just as a series of confrontations erupted in the Eastern Mediterranean throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Eternal War - Chechnya, 1994-2009: Chechnya declared its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russian forces invaded in 1994, sparking a nearly two-decade long conflict.

Axis of Evil - Conflict in the Persian Gulf: Iran's continued influence in the Middle East raises the possibility of a renewed conflict in the Persian Gulf with the United States and its Western-backed Allies.

Soyuz '81 - Soviet Plans to Invade Poland: When the growing economic crisis in Poland gave rise to the Solidarity labor movement, the Soviets began plans to snuff it out with a military intervention.

Putin Moves South - Potential Conflict in the Eurasian Heartland: Central Asia has been a crossroads for millennia. In the 21st century conflict looms in the region as international powers vie for control of important natural resources and military dominance.