Logo

American Security Council Foundation

Back to main site

Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

China’s carrier group conducts exercises in South China Sea

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Categories: ASCF News Emerging Threats

Comments: 0

scsdownload

China’s Shandong aircraft carrier group recently conducted annual exercises in the South China Sea, the People’s Liberation Army said on Sunday, after Beijing criticised the US for sending Navy ships into the strategic area.

Navy spokesperson Gao Xiucheng said in a statement the exercises were “completely legitimate” and part of safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, as well as maintaining regional peace and stability.

“We hope the outside world will view it in an objective and rational way. In the future, the Chinese navy will continue to hold similar exercises as planned,” said Gao.

The Chinese defence ministry last week urged the United States to restrain its front-line forces in the air and seas near China. US reconnaissance aircraft and warships have become more active around China since President Joe Biden took office, it said.

The South China Sea is particularly contentious because China’s smaller neighbours also have competing claims to one of the world’s busiest sea lanes, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety. China has constructed several man-made islands in the disputed waters in what the US says is a move to militarise the area.

Escalating tensions
China has repeatedly complained about American Navy ships getting close to islands it occupies in the South China Sea, where Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan all also have competing claims.

US carrier groups have sailed near Chinese-controlled islands in the disputed waters several times this year, drawing denunciation from China.

The Shandong is the second Chinese aircraft carrier to enter service after the Liaoning, which was originally purchased as a hulk from Ukraine and entirely refurbished.

The Shandong entered service in 2019 and is the newer of China’s two carriers.

China’s navy said last month similar drills will come more regularly amid escalating tensions with the island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its sovereign territory.

Photo: The Shandong, China's first entirely home-built aircraft carrier, underscores its rise as a regional naval power at a time of tensions with the US [File: Li Gang/Xinhua via AP]

Link: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/2/chinas-carrier-group-conducts-exercises-in-south-china-sea

Comments RSS feed for comments on this page

There are no comments yet. Be the first to add a comment by using the form below.