Rowan Scarborough, Lenny Ben-David, Gordon Chang

With the defense cuts be put into place, it will make it more difficult for the military to keep up with its responsibilities to our allies and our nation. The US military will resemble its 1995 standards that many experts claimed, at the time, could not get the job done. The Navy is putting on a brave face to try and do more with less, unfortunately it will be much less than what is needed to combat present and future threats. What will the affect be if women start to serve in frontline roles? It is difficult for men to meet the standards to be in the infantry, what will that mean for women? If we lower the standards to enter into situations that could potentially lead to hand-to-hand combat, how prepared will they be? Rowan Scarborough gives his take on these issues.

Former Israeli senior diplomat, Lenny Ben-David, gives his take on the threats facing his nation and America. Is Iran attempting to assassinate Israeli diplomats around the world? Historically Iran has target Israeli government personnel, but will Iran turn to Hezbollah for attacks within Israel? At this moment Israel is not looking to attack Iranian nuclear facilities, but it is an option that remains on the table for down the road. Syria is disintegrating into its ethnic components and the world is realizing that what comes after Assad cannot be worse. People from Syria are moving in droves into Israel seeking safety and Israel is welcoming these refugees under these emergency conditions. With the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, what will be the future of the peace agreement with Israel?

What will the topic of conversation be when China’s vice-president comes to town? He is communist royalty, but his rise is showing signs of difficulty among communist infighting. Iran and cyberwarfare will certainly be on the agenda as topics to discuss, but does he really have the clout to make significant changes to the regime? Politicians are using the military to help regain or increase their power thus giving the military important political influence. Senator John McCain claimed the Arab Spring is coming to China and this caused a fury of responses from the Chinese government. They understand they have a serious problem with internal insurrection and have used state TV to make claims of stability and strength within the country. Will China see its own Arab Spring? Gordon Chang gives his take on this idea.