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Mira Rapp-Hooper

Mira Rapp-Hooper is Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the forthcoming books Shields of the Republic: The Triumph and Peril of America’s Alliances and An Open World: How America Can Win the Contest for Twenty-First-Century Order.

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Scholarship

Trump, Congress and Presidential Alliance Powers

Mira Rapp-Hooper, Matthew Waxman   Mon, Jul 1, 2019, 8:10 AM

In a new Washington Quarterly article titled “Presidential Alliance Powers,” we wrestle with a subject that has become familiar in these pages: the chief executive’s ability to dismantle American alliances. We argue that although many Trump foreign policy critics worry that his disdain for American alliances such as NATO might lead him to withdraw the United States, the more subtle, probable and already-manifest danger is that he weakens U.S. alliances from within.

South China Sea

An Answer to the Innocent Passage Mystery?

Adam Klein, Mira Rapp-Hooper   Fri, Nov 6, 2015, 9:52 AM

In yesterday’s post, we asked “What did the Navy do in the South China Sea?” That wasn’t a rhetorical question. The Department of Defense hadn’t yet clearly explained what the USS Lassen did during its recent freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) in the South China Sea. Nor has it explained the precise legal basis for the operation.

South China Sea

What Did The Navy Do In the South China Sea?

Adam Klein, Mira Rapp-Hooper   Wed, Nov 4, 2015, 11:21 AM

After the U.S.S. Lassen’s freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) in the Spratly Islands last week, we wrote that the Lassen and the accompanying P-8 Poseidon aircraft appeared to have conducted normal military operations inside 12 nm around Subi Reef. That was important because normal military operations are not “innocent passage,” a demonstrably nonthreatening mode of transiting another nation’s territorial seas.

South China Sea

After the Freedom of Navigation Exercise: What Did the U.S. Signal?

Adam Klein, Mira Rapp-Hooper   Tue, Oct 27, 2015, 4:05 PM

On Friday, we published a “what to watch for” guide to the then-imminent U.S. freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) in the South China Sea. Yesterday, the USS Lassen, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, transited within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef—one of China’s artificial islands in the Spratly Island group.

South China Sea

Freedom of Navigation Operations in the South China Sea: What to Watch For

Adam Klein, Mira Rapp-Hooper   Fri, Oct 23, 2015, 3:37 PM

It is widely expected that in the next several days, the United States will conduct a freedom of navigation exercise near China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea. The Obama Administration has been debating the use of freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS) in the Spratly Islands for several months, and a public debate on the matter has been ongoing since May.

Maritime

The Maritime Top Line: Defense Budgets in the Pacific Littoral

Mira Rapp-Hooper   Sat, Mar 28, 2015, 4:00 PM

In recent years, analysts have devoted much attention to the fact that China continues to increase its defense spending by double-digit percentages annually. They have also focused on fiscal constraints in the United States, and how these may impact Washington’s ability to sustain its presence in East Asia. Less well documented, however, is what these trends have meant for other countries in the region. With a rising superpower rapidly expanding its defense capabilities, we might expect its neighbors to follow suit. But is this actually happening?