The #PRC announced its “law enforcement” operations east of #Taiwan. However, it’s nothing but expansionism in disguise that threatens regional peace & stability.

China's coast guard harasses Filipinos. Philippines documents it. China gets upset when the footage reaches the rest of the world and accuses Manila of "playing the victim." If you don't want the reputation of a bully, stop behaving like one. x.com/globaltimesnews/status…

New @USAJOBS! @NavalWarCollege / @ChinaMaritime Studies Institute Seeks New Professor—Apply by 12 June 2026! usajobs.gov/job/868717600 ➡️ Complete info here: bit.ly/CMSIProfessor From #CMSI Director CAPT @ChrisHSharman, @USNavy (Ret): Come Join the #China Maritime Studies Institute Team! China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) Friends & Colleagues – CMSI at the #NavalWarCollege in Newport, Rhode Island is pleased to announce a new (& rare) hiring opportunity to join the CMSI team as an Assistant / Associate Professor. ⚓ CMSI is the @DeptofWar’s 1st service-specific China center & premier research center for the scholarly study of China’s military maritime power. ⚓ CMSI scholars perform academic research based on Chinese-language sources to develop deeper insight into key aspects of China’s military maritime development, capabilities, trends & future trajectory. ⚓ We seek candidates with strong research & analytical skills, demonstrated expertise on China & maritime security issues, & the ability to produce high-quality written analysis for both academic & operational audiences. Chinese-language proficiency is required. ⚓ Highly desirable candidates will have significant experience researching PRC security issues; analytical experience, including in developing innovative approaches to research & analysis; an extensive, top caliber publication record focusing on PRC strategy, policy, military, &/or maritime issues; & impact recognized by leading stakeholders. ⚓ Candidates must be U.S. citizens & capable of obtaining a DoW security clearance. ⚓ The position is located in Newport, Rhode Island & offers the opportunity to work alongside a highly collaborative team conducting impactful research on issues of critical importance to the future military maritime security environment for the Department of War & other key stakeholders. Please circulate this opportunity widely among qualified colleagues, researchers & professional networks. Thanks!

New! 20 #Chinese (中文) #Naval/#Maritime #Law-Related Translations Published! @NavalWarCollege/@ChinaMaritime Studies Institute Quarterly Review 1.3 (February 2026)—The Legal Struggle for #China’s Maritime Power: Strategy, Sovereignty, & Enforcement digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cm… Previous issues curated here: bit.ly/CMSIQuarterlyReview1-… From CMSI Director CAPT @ChrisHSharman, @USNavy (Ret.): China Military Maritime Watchers: How does maritime law become an instrument of power & influence? The China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) is pleased to announce the publication of our latest CMSI Quarterly Review – Translation Special Edition. This volume brings together 20 archived CMSI translations to trace how the People’s Republic of China (PRC) built & operationalized a robust legal architecture in support of its strategic transition from a large maritime country to a maritime power. Drawn from official and unofficial PRC journals, these articles reveal how maritime law has been used to legitimize expansive extraterritorial claims, establish legal “red lines,” & shape competitive behavior at sea. Rather than reading history backward, the volume treats each article as a snapshot in time, capturing evolving PRC thinking—from China’s role in international maritime negotiations to the modern employment of law as an operational instrument. As PRC maritime disputes intensify, understanding how China arrived at its legal positions—& how it intends to use them—matters more than ever. We hope this collection of archived translations proves a valuable resource for scholars, warfighters, & policymakers navigating the Indo-Pacific’s increasingly contested legal terrain. @JamesKraska/@julianku/@BonnieGlaser/@graham_euan/@djag2/@BuchananLiz/@justinburke/@RUMLAE

Here is my take on the approach to China in the National Defense Strategy: gmfus.org/news/us-national-d… A “Decent Peace” With China

130 schools said no. He led the losingest program in college football history to a national championship anyway. Fernando Mendoza was a 2-star recruit from Miami. He tried to walk on at his hometown school. They passed. So did FIU. So did FAU. So did everyone else. At 17, he was sitting in his bedroom, crying over a silent recruiting inbox—after driving to 18 camps with his dad and sending highlights to more than 100 programs. Not one FBS offer. His only option? Yale. No scholarship. No NFL path. Everyone told him to be “realistic.” “Know your place.” “Be grateful.” He didn’t listen. Because Mendoza understood something most people miss: The worst outcome isn’t failing. It’s never getting the chance to try. Two weeks before signing day in 2022, his phone rang. Cal needed a body. One offer. Out of 134 schools. He took it. He arrived as the third-string quarterback. Spent a year on the scout team. Lost his first four starts. Got sacked 41 times behind a broken offensive line. Still got up. Every time. Then Cal brought in a transfer instead of building around him. So Mendoza left the only school that had ever said yes. He transferred to Indiana—the losingest program in college football history. People laughed. “Career suicide.” “Graveyard program.” “Nobody wins there.” One coach told him something different: “I’m going to make you the best Fernando Mendoza possible.” That was enough. Mendoza wasn’t just playing for football. His mother has battled multiple sclerosis for 18 years. Before every snap, he thought of her. “My mother is my why.” Indiana went 16–0. Beat six Top-10 teams. Won their first Big Ten title since 1945. Mendoza threw 41 touchdowns. Won the Heisman—first in school history. First Cuban-American to ever do it. Then came the title game. Miami. Near his hometown. Fourth-and-4. Season on the line. Quarterback draw. The kid 134 schools rejected spun through defenders and dove into the end zone. Game over. Indiana—national champions. The losingest program became the best team in America. All because a 17-year-old refused to believe “no” was the end. Rankings don’t decide your ceiling. Gatekeepers don’t write your ending. Being overlooked isn’t a verdict—it’s a starting point. Sometimes all you need is one shot… and the courage to bet on yourself when nobody else will. Don’t quit. Credit: Barclay Mullins

In these terrible but hopeful times, my thoughts are with the people of Iran. Much lies beyond my own expertise, but through research and personal family history I have encountered unmistakable evidence of the depth, sophistication, and humanity of Iranian civilization and society—worth recalling now. The Persian Empire was one of the earliest great continental empires—and the first on such a scale—to become a sustained maritime power. It remains one of the very few land powers in history to successfully become a sea power on a sustained basis—an extraordinary feat. google.com/books/edition/Chi… During the late Cold War, the Shah of Iran—himself an experienced pilot—sought advanced aircraft to counter high-altitude Soviet incursions that violated Iranian airspace. His efforts intensified after Moscow repeatedly rebuffed his appeals for mutual overflight restraint. theaviationgeekclub.com/form… Amid a competitive U.S. selection process, the Shah chose Grumman’s F-14. youtube.com/watch?v=G-mrFcsw… As president of Grumman’s aerospace subsidiary beginning in 1972, and its president and chief operating officer starting in 1976, my grandfather oversaw the contracting and delivery of 79 F-14s to Iran. bit.ly/F-14IranSale To support the program, Grumman sent roughly 2,000 employees and their families to Imperial Iranian Air Force Base Khatami, 15 miles north of Isfahan. There, a Grumman-U.S. Navy team trained approximately 80 Iranian pilots and 40-50 radar intercept officers. My grandfather personally ensured that all employees and family members received extensive instruction in Persian language and culture as part of a six-month “trans-cultural” program beginning on 20 January 1975. Years later, while reading related materials, I first encountered Iran’s rich heritage and culture myself. bit.ly/GrummanInIran In 1979, just before I was born, my grandfather was preparing to visit his employees in Iran. What followed in the broader sweep of history is well known. Less widely known is the unreserved kindness that ordinary Iranians showed to the guests in their community even as their own lives were thrown into turmoil. Despite having everything to lose, they remained neighbors in the truest sense of the word to foreigners they would never see again. Local Iranians helped delay the incoming Revolutionary Guards’ focus on the Grumman employees and their families, protecting them long enough for all to reach Tehran’s airport and depart safely aboard aircraft arranged by Grumman. Months later, the personal belongings they had abandoned in haste arrived in Long Island by shipping container, with no valuables missing. My grandfather always credited this humane treatment—and the later return of those effects—to the respect fostered by the cultural training program and reflected in their conduct as guests in Iran. My grandfather knew key Iranian government and industry leaders of the 1970s and was deeply impressed by their expertise. After 1979, he watched as many oil industry specialists relocated to Houston and communications professionals to Los Angeles, where they went on to make major contributions in their new homes. Since 1979, Iranian technical talent has produced some of the world’s earliest anti-ship ballistic missiles, but domestic repression and regional warfare have left Iran far short of its potential. bit.ly/IranASBMs Aggression during the 1981-88 Tanker War proved a disastrous failure. bit.ly/TankerWar Iran’s internationally unique possession of two parallel navies—the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy—underscores the abnormal government-military system imposed by its clerical regime today. frontiersin.org/journals/pol… Yet the sophisticated promise of Iranian culture has by no means been destroyed. It awaits the chance to flourish anew in unshackled freedom. Analysts of regional and military affairs have long emphasized this enduring Iranian sophistication to me. Today, more than ever, I see a groundswell of popular determination and a rising tide of resolve. Iran’s current government, which suppresses a diverse and dynamic society within a sectarian straitjacket, does not reflect the will of its people. Forty-seven years of oppression and injustice have only deepened the damage. Iran should—and can—be far better than this. If someone as distant and tangential as me can witness so much of the goodness inherent in Iranian people, culture, and civilization, I can only imagine what is evident to those truly in the know. At the end of the day, what matters most are Iranians themselves—and their freedom to live good lives of their own in peace, prosperity, and promise. I hope the people of Iran will soon have a government that truly represents them and is worthy of their rich, highly advanced culture and tremendous positive potential.