CMSI Note #11: Admiral Miao Hua\u27s Fall: Further Navy Fallout?

Pending investigation, Xi Jinping’s protégé Admiral Miao Hua (苗华) has been suspended from his duties as a member of China’s Central Military Commission (CMC) and Director of the CMC Political Work Department. This decision was made by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s Central Committee, Defense Spokesperson Senior Colonel Wu Qian announced at the scheduled monthly People’s Liberation Army (PLA) press briefing on 28 November 2024, because Miao is “suspected of serious violation of discipline.”2 By the time such CCP investigations become public, conviction is a foregone conclusion. Miao’s fall thus raises three principal questions: Why is he being removed, will his cronies suffer similarly, and what does it mean for China’s navy and military?https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cmsi-notes/1010/thumbnail.jp

Another Missed Opportunity to Adopt a Universally Accepted Maritime Treaty

In March 2023, an intergovernmental conference adopted the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement). Inspired by a resurgence of the New International Economic Order (NIEO), the BBNJ Agreement contains numerous provisions that will have the practical effect of making ratification of the agreement untenable for the industrialized nations. Similar provisions were included in the original Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS). As a result, industrialized nations refused to sign or ratify UNCLOS when it was opened for signature in 1982. UNCLOS did not enter into force until Part XI was amended by an implementing agreement in 1994 to eliminate the NIEO-inspired provisions that were objectionable to the developed nations. Unfortunately, the international community is seeing history repeat itself with the negotiation and adoption of the BBNJ Agreement. In its current form, the BBNJ Agreement repeats many of the mistakes of Part XI and will never receive the required votes for advice and consent in the U.S. Senate. Unless these provisions are amended, the result will be that genetic resources, like deep seabed minerals, will not be exploited for the benefit of mankind

Report No.2: Integrated Naval Deterrence in the Arctic Region—Strategic Options for Enhancing Regional Naval Cooperation

Despite recent advances to strengthen regional deterrence cooperation, questions remain on the evolving role and posture of naval forces in the Arctic region, and what further steps can be taken. At the NASI 2022 seminar in Copenhagen, the Heads of Navy of the Arctic-Seven nations and Arctic stakeholders such as France and the United Kingdom asked the NASI 2023 cohort to provide an independent assessment of naval force posture, the trans-Arctic dimensions of national security policies in the context of a more contested “Blue Arctic” and critical dilemmas that regional senior defense and naval leaders could face at the strategic and operational levels. In particular, the NASI 2023 cohort was asked to focus on key challenges and opportunities for further developing bilateral and multilateral cooperation among naval forces to strengthen Integrated Naval Deterrence in the Arctic region.https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nasi/1001/thumbnail.jp

Cyberspace and the Jus ad Bellum: The State of Play

This article examines how States are interpreting one aspect of the international law governing cyber activities, the jus ad bellum. The article focuses on two issues: (1) the prohibition on the use of force found in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, and (2) the right of self-defense in Article 51. The critical unsettled question regarding the first issue is the threshold at which a hostile cyber operation can be characterized as a “use of force” subject to the prohibition of Article 2(4). Concerning the second issue, a number of unresolved questions plague the application of the right of self-defense in cyberspace. Most prominent among them is the analog to the use of force challenge, that is, determining when a cyber use of force in cyberspace crosses the “armed attack” threshold, thereby triggering the right of self-defense. Other key issues include anticipatory self-defense, attacks by non-State actors, and defensive operations into States that did not launch the underlying armed attack. The article does not seek to settle these matters. It merely identifies the current state of play to better inform State legal advisers and other concerned international lawyers on trends in the interpretation of the jus ad bellum that are apparent in State verbal practice. As national positions, the State material cited qualifies as opinio juris. Accordingly, it is normatively significant

Episode 1: Words Matter: Irregular Warfare Definitions and Constructs

Guests Robert S. Burrell, Richard Tilley, and David H. Ucko join host Col. Dave Brown to discuss the definition of Irregular Warfare (IW), its changing construct in DoD, and its overall utility. The group touches on the broader dimensions of the “competition” space indirectly affecting both IW and the larger international security environment. Article: A Full Spectrum of Conflict Design: How Doctrine Should Embrace Irregular Warfare, Robert S. Burrell, March 14, 2023 Article: JP 1 Volume 1, Joint Warfighting, 27 August 2023 Article: Redefining Irregular Warfare: Legitimacy, Coercion, And Power, David H. Ucko and Thomas A. Marks, Oct 18, 2022 ------------------------ Guests:Robert S. Burrell, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Joint Special Operations University with several years of adult learning and teaching experience at the graduate and undergraduate level. My area of expertise and scholarship includes international diplomacy and human intelligence, as well as military history, theory, and doctrine. Previously, I taught history at U.S. Naval Academy. I am also the former editor-in-chief of special operations doctrine. A retired Marine with combat experience, I am an Asia-Pacific expert with 12 years living and working in Japan, Korea, Philippines, and Thailand, as well as a diplomatic tour at the U.S. Embassy in Australia. Richard Tilley serves at the J7 office of IW & Competition. Formerly the principal advisor to Chairman Joint Chiefs and Joint Staff concerning ability to wage IW sustain campaigns of strategic competition against our adversaries. Directed CJCS’ Joint Irregular Warfare Assessment. Led efforts to institutionalize and integrate IW and strategic competition capabilities and activities across the Joint Force and in coordination with interagency, multinational, and other domestic and foreign interorganizational partners. Prior to joining the Joint Staff in 2021, Richard served as a strategist in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security analyzing adversarial competitive strategies and orienting the Department’s sensitive activities and special operations. Previously served as the national security advisor to a senior member of the HASC, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. David H. Ucko, PhD is a Professor at the College of International Security Affairs (CISA) of the National Defense University, Washington DC, where he teaches irregular warfare and strategy to international military and civilian practitioners. From 2019-2023, he was the chair of CISA\u27s Department of War & Conflict Studies (WACS) and, from 2018-2022, the Director of the Regional Defense Fellowship Program, whereby he led the College\u27s international deployment of mobile education teams. Dr. Ucko is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University and a senior visiting fellow at the Department of War Studies, King\u27s College London.https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/the-trident/1000/thumbnail.jp

International Law and Acoustic Antagonism in East Asian Waters

This article analyzes a 2023 maritime incident in which the Chinese Navy Ship (CNS) Ningbo employed active sonar in the vicinity of His Majesty’s Australian Ship (HMAS) Toowoomba, while knowing that Toowoomba had divers in the water. The Chinese sonar caused injuries to the Australian divers. The article discusses the employment of acoustic devices to cause harm during peacetime and analyzes whether CNS Ningbo’s actions constituted a failure of due regard and other applicable legal regimes and norms. The article concludes that CNS Ningbo’s actions were an unlawful use of force and failed to demonstrate due regard, and that HMAS Toowoomba could have lawfully employed necessary and proportionate measures in self-defense

Episode 14: Unraveling the Gordian Knot; the Power of Network Engagement

Guest Reyes Cole joins host Dave Brown to discuss the subject of Network Engagement, a growing area of doctrinal importance for various types of operational analysis, and one that underpins nearly every operational mission set, as well as every one of the currently identified Irregular Warfare activities. Articles: Outmatched - Shortfalls in Countering Threat Networks, D. Doran, NDU Press, JFQ 89, 2nd Quarter 2018 Countering Threat Networks to Deter, Compete, and Win - Competition Below Armed Conflict with Revisionist Powers, V. Oxford, NDU Press, JFQ 95, 4th Quarter 2019 How NATO Can Support Countering Threat Networks, J. Gardner, Counter-IED Report, Autumn/Winter 2013 Joint Publication 3-25 Countering Threat Networks The Myths of Traditional Warfare: How Our Peer and Near-Peer Adversaries Plan to Fight Using Irregular Warfare, R. Cole, Small Wars Journal, 28 Mar 2019 ------------------------ Guest: Reyes Cole Serves as the Irregular Warfare and Competition capability developer and analyst for HQ USMC, within the Ground Combat Element Division, and the Capability Development Directorate (CDD). Mr. Cole has served with the USMC for over a decade as the lead for institutionalizing Irregular Warfare requirements into Marine Corps missions and requirements. Reyes retired in 2012 from the US Army as a LTC after 26 years of service in infantry and Special Forces units. His military service focused on counternarcotics missions at home and abroad, and his background also includes experience in civil affairs, security cooperation, security force assistance, network engagement, countering transnational organized crime, counterinsurgency, stabilization activities, and counter threat finance.https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/the-trident/1013/thumbnail.jp