The Quiet Expansion — U.S. Army Rotational Force in the Philippines and the Militarization of the First Island Chain Nothing rolled in with fanfare. No dramatic base openings. No headline-grabbing troop numbers. Just a short confirmation, almost easy to miss: the U.S. Army now maintains a rotational force in the Philippines. Quiet. Technical. Bureaucratic-sounding. And…
After the Frigates: Charting the Philippine Navy’s Corvette Crossroads in Re-Horizon 3 What happens after the flag-raising ceremonies end, and the sea stops being forgiving? As headlines once again fill with reports of tense encounters in the West Philippine Sea, close-in maneuvering, water cannons, and steel hulls brushing against steel hulls, a far more consequential…
Why the Philippines Is Considered the Weakest Link in the U.S. First Island Chain Policy “What happens when the key gatekeeper in the Pacific can’t keep the gate?” That question haunts U.S. strategic planners as they map the First Island Chain, a critical arc of islands and maritime chokepoints stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and…
Philippines Nears Strategic Defense Partnership with France to Enhance Naval Capabilities What if the next foreign navy operating alongside the Philippines in the South China Sea isn’t American, Japanese, or Australian but French?” That question alone signals something big is shifting. Because right now, Manila is quietly moving closer to Paris, and it could change…
Philippines’ Archipelagic Defence Strategy Explained Amid Rising Tensions with China The Philippines sits at the heart of one of the most contested maritime regions on the planet. Comprising 7,641 islands and straddling critical sea lanes linking the South China Sea to the broader Western Pacific, the country’s geography has always been both its greatest asset…
