Philippines’ Aggressive Territorial Claims In South China Sea: A New Threat to Regional Stability

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed a new Navy chief (Rear Admiral Jose Ma. Ambrosio Ezpeleta) amid tensions in the South China Sea, which include a number of maritime drills which are perceived as provocations by Beijing. One such military exercise earlier this month, for instance, included drills to simulate seizing an island in the disputed South China Sea. Last month Manila held military exercises in the same Sea together with Canada, Japan, and the United States, as part of Exercise Sama Sama 2024. The Philippines are also officially expanding their maritime claims. These developments are all connected.

Philippines’ Aggressive Territorial Claims In South China Sea: A New Threat to Regional Stability (archived)

Related:

What’s Really Going On In the South China Sea Between the Philippines and China

Australia-Philippines Military Public Affairs workshop

YouTube / Facebook

Throughout the three-day course, we’ve looked at the strategic, operational and tactical levels.  We’ve looked at the operational framework in which both nations work.  Some of the considerations that we have to work together with.  We’ve looked at media programs and media talent and preparing that talent and facilitating media embed programs.  And we also unpacked and looked at photography workshop as well, where we’ve been able to have lots of fun looking at the kits and the tools, and taking some photography and vision in order to amplify key messages into the region.

ADF | Australia-Philippines Military Public Affairs workshop

Related:

Great communication begins with connection

‘The workshop got our nations on one page to deliver the right information and messages that we want to convey across the globe.’

Embedded journalism:

The original purpose of embedding was to control journalists, according to Helen Benedict, a professor at the Columbia Journalism School.  Citing award-winning Australian journalist Phillip Knightley’s book “The First Casualty: The War Correspondent as Hero and Myth-Maker from the Crimea to Iraq” which describes how the U.S. government invented embedded journalism in response to critical coverage of the Vietnam War.  As civilian casualties in Afghanistan reached 5,000, the Pentagon sought a media strategy that would bring attention back to the military’s role in the war, especially the role played by ordinary American service members.  This would require bringing war correspondents on side.

What are Information Operations?

To obtain a competitive edge, information operations and warfare entail obtaining intelligence on opponents and disseminating propaganda.

DefinitionInformation operations are tactics used to sway people’s opinions and affect how decisions are made.

More information:

Embedded Journalism, Media Manipulation & Apathy

2012 NDAA – Propaganda – MISO – InfoOps – PsyOps

SeaLight document

The Man Behind Trump’s VP Pick: It’s Worse Than You Think

While J.D. Vance has his own controversies, his close connection to billionaire Peter Thiel, who is poised to have unprecedented influence in a new Trump administration, should deeply unsettle every American who cares about freedom, privacy and reining in the surveillance state.

The Man Behind Trump’s VP Pick: It’s Worse Than You Think

H/T: The Most Revolutionary Act

Related:

Neoreactionaries

Essequibo Updates: USSOUTHCOM, Guyana, Venezuela

Security cooperation between Guyana and the US appears to deepen

U.S. Marine Corps Major General Julie Nethercot’s, U.S. Southern Command Strategy, Policy, and Plans Director has visited Guyana. Her visit to Guyana from May 6th to May 8th possibly  or probably signals a significant step forward in our nation’s defence and security partnership with the United States, some observers believe. This visit follows closely on the heels of Major General Evan Pettus’ – also of the  U.S. Southern Command – engagement in February, probably highlighting a deepening commitment of the United States to bolstering Guyana’s security capabilities.

Related:

US Navy Aircraft Overflight Increases Regional Risk: Padrino

On Thursday morning, U.S. authorities announced that two U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jets will carry out a flyover over “Georgetown and its surroundings” with the approval of the Guyanese government chaired by Irfaan Ali.

Venezuela Advances in Exercising Sovereignty Over Essequibo Region

The head of the Strategic Operational Command of the Bolivarian National Armed Force (CEOFANB), General Domingo Hernández Lárez, reported that Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB) troops continue to work to interconnect the newly created Guayana Esequiba state with the rest of the Venezuelan territory.

2020 Guyanese Election & Venezuela-Guyana Border Dispute