National Security Council Part 3: Texas National Security Network and Anti-Access/Area Denial

I recommend that the people of Texas lead the way in becoming better citizens by becoming more engaged in issues like national security.  There is now within Texas an organization called the Texas National Security Network.  It has a Texas National Security Review with this website:  https://tnsr.org/.  I find the website War On the Rocks pretty interesting:  https://warontherocks.com/.  They have an article, e.g., about anti-access and area denial — known as A2/AD:  Demystifying the A2/AD Buzz by Luis Simon.  A2AD is a big topic, as shown by this article:  The Russia – NATO A2AD Environment by Ian Williams.  Here is a picture of air defense around Kaliningrad  from that article.  I first heard of A2/AD in the article from the War On the Rocks website.  Since then I have seen the term in other articles and it catches my eye as an important item with the articles I read.

Kaliningrad can be conflict hot point.  It is one of the most heavily militarized zones in the world.  You might remember that Kaliningrad is a German city given to Stalin by F.D.R. in the Potsdam Conference.  We must remember that F.D.R. was responsible for the Iron Curtain and the enslavement of many free Eastern European people by the U.S.S.R. because F.D.R. appeased Stalin in much the same way that Neville Chamberlain appeased Hitler.  Kaliningrad is an enduring testament to F.D.R.'s abandonment of the Eastern Europeans.  Of course no Americans died for the freedom of these people so it is hard to blame F.D.R. for his decision.  This is realism:  freedom has a price.

Here is a quote from their website:  War on the Rocks is a platform for analysis, commentary, debate and multimedia content on foreign policy and national security issues through a realist lens.

It is good that Texans are looking carefully at national security issues.  If you are a Texan, you ought to be reading the War on the Rocks website.

Robert

Anti-Access/Area-Denial (update on 9/1/2018)

The July 30, 2018 issue of National Review, on pages 28 to 30, has this article that mentions Anti-Access/Area-Denial:  The Sea Will Not Be Tamed, On China's Formidable, Flawed Effort to Turn Naval Strategy Upside Down by Jerry Hendrix, Captain, USN Retired.
https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2018/07/30/chinese-naval-policy-upending-conventional-wisdom/
     The author says this about anti-access/area-denial:  China’s most significant reaction to America’s ability to project power was its investment in a new series of capabilities that have since been called “anti-access/area-denial” weapons systems. These systems, a combination of anti-ship ballistic missiles, anti-ship cruise missiles, and new advanced long-range fighter-interceptors, were designed to push American forces back from China’s shores, mitigating America’s ability to project power onto land and effect regime change.
      I also liked learning about Malford Mackinder within this National Review article.  I have heard of Geopolitics, but not of Mackinder's Heartland Theory, or Pivot of History.