Peter Baker, long-time Moscow bureau chief for the Washington Post, told attendees at AFA’s Air & Space Conference Sept. 15 that there is no new Cold War, despite claims to the contrary, but the Russians are not “the partner we hoped they’d be.” Now a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, Baker noted, too, that it should not have surprised anyone when Russian tanks rolled into Georgia, given Vladimir Putin’s penchant to “reassert authority” over former Soviet provinces. (Read more in An Emergent Russia)
Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held meetings with defense leaders from the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea during a trip to the Indo-Pacific this week.