Cordillera CEO David Kilcullen: War on Terror bases in Africa and Asia will allow the West to compete against Beijing

DENVER and WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- David Kilcullen, CEO of risk management company Cordillera Applications Group, has predicted that United States military bases established for the Global War on Terror in Africa and Asia will be essential if the West wants to effectively counter China's aggressive expansionism in the next decade.

In an analysis distributed this week by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan institute focusing on national security and foreign policy, Kilcullen states that existing military infrastructure abroad will be valuable in dealing with future Chinese expansion strategies in those regions.

"The terror threat to Americans will not end because Washington says so. But even if the terror threat does fade, bases established for the Global War on Terror offer the ability to compete more effectively against Beijing," he writes.

Kilcullen, who operates in five continents and has written five books, points out that, for example, China holds a naval base in Djibouti, controls vast commercial infrastructure and military sites in Africa and has more than 2000 troops in the continent.

The analysis is part of "Defending Forward: Securing America by Projecting Military Power Abroad", a monograph edited and published by FDD. 

It includes 22 essays and opinions by former U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, Lt. General McMaster, former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Finland Eric Edelman, Dr. Samantha Ravich, Lt. General Ben Hodges, Lt. General Edward Cardon, Eric Sayers and John Hannah, among other experts.

Kilcullen argues that existing U.S. bases will become crucial assets in the Great Power Competition that is intensifying after the COVID-19 pandemic.

He explains that "the arithmetic of counterterrorism shows that there is no substitute for forward-deployed forces".

Kilcullen is the President and CEO of Cordillera Applications Group. This global firm provides geopolitical analysis and risk management to governments, corporate clients and NGOs in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa. 

The firm's suite of technological tools, and its distributed operations model, enables Cordillera to help clients adapt and thrive throughout the complex world that will arise as a consequence of the COVID-19 health emergency.

In the past, he has served as the Special Advisor for Counterinsurgency to the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and senior counterinsurgency advisor to General David Petraeus, then Commanding General of United States and international forces in Iraq.

He also worked as chief counterterrorism strategist at the U.S. State Department, operating in the Middle East, South Asia, Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia, including operational activities in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.

Kilcullen is a former Australian infantry officer with 22 years of service, including deployments in East Timor, Bougainville, and the Middle East.

A best-selling author on military issues, his last book, The Dragons and the Snakes, has been described by The Times of London as a book that "should be read by everyone in uniform".

You can read David Kilcullen's analysis on https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2020/12/15/defending-forward-enhancing-special-operations/

Contact:

Ramon Pedrosa-Lopez
Tel. 00356 7946 7486
website: www.cordillera-apps.com  
Email: media@cordillera-apps.com