Geopolitics, Strategy & Technological Rivalries

The defence technology community in Singapore comprises the Defence Science and Technology Agency, the DSO National Laboratories and departments in the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) that are responsible for acquiring, developing and sustaining defence capabilities.   Singapore’s defence technology community recently gave the public a glimpse into its work in …

Sri Lanka has signed a $1.1bn (£837m) deal with China for the control and development of the southern deep-sea port of Hambantota.  Under the proposal, a state-run Chinese company will have a 99-year lease on the port and about 15,000 acres nearby for an industrial zone. Sri Lanka’s government says …

In an Aug. 17 memorandum from Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Michael Kratsios, deputy assistant to the president in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Trump administration outlines its technology-related research and development priorities for fiscal year 2019. It calls for Agencies …

Iran’s air defence command conducted what was billed as the first test launch of the indigenously developed Talash air defence system on 28 December 2016. The tests began with the launch of Iranian-made Sayyad-2 medium-range, high-altitude surface-to-air missile. The Sayyad-2 is a canister-launched version of the RIM-66 (SM-1) naval surface-to-air missile …

Britain’s Ministry of Defense has released a new forecast of future world in 2035, in report, titled “Future Operating Environment 2035”. It describes the key institutional, cultural and physical characteristics, actors and their motivations, that are likely to shape the future operating environment. It identifies key implications to assess future …

For two decades now, the UNESCO Science Report series has been mapping science, technology and innovation (STI) around the world on a regular basis. It is a quinquennial report that focuses on longer-term trends, with respect to policy and science and technology indicators. Launching the sixth edition of UNESCO’s global …

Internet has become arguably the most important driver of disruptive innovation in the early twenty-first century, it has transformed the way in which people obtain news, conduct business, communicate with one another, socialize, and interact with public officials. Around 40% of the world population has an internet connection today. However …

A nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany has been struck, binding Iran on limiting its nuclear activity in return for the lifting of international economic sanctions. The lifting of sanctions is seeing rush of foreign companies, particularly European countries like …

Over the last few years, Russia and NATO have been caught in something of a security trap, where neither trusts the other’s intentions and thus tries to build up more military power to deter its rival. Although both think of their actions as defensive, their enemy sees pure aggression—and the …