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Robert C. O'Brien is an attorney and commentator on foreign affairs and international law issues. His opinion and editorial pieces regularly appear in major publications such as CBSNews.com, The Huffington Post and Newsmax. Mr. O'Brien's law review articles have been published in the American Journal of International Law, The Cornell International Law Journal, The UCLA Journal of International Law & Foreign Affairs, The Los Angeles Lawyer and other journals. He is the managing partner of the Los Angeles office of a national law firm.

To book Mr. O’Brien to speak at your company or organization, please contact Hewitt Speakers at hewittspeakers.com/men/robert-c-obrien.

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Tuesday
Jan242012

Seven Take-Aways From GOP Debate on ABC

DateTuesday, January 24, 2012 at 05:00PM | Print ArticlePrint Article | |

Newsmax

By: Robert C. O'Brien

The ABC debate at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., Saturday night was expected to consist of nonstop attacks on New Hampshire front-runner Mitt Romney. It did not turn out that way. Here are my seven take-aways.

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Saturday
Nov192011

Ensuring China’s Peaceful Rise

DateSaturday, November 19, 2011 at 01:49PM | Print ArticlePrint Article | |

The Diplomat

By: Robert C. O'Brien

The best approach to China’s increased maritime assertiveness is to reinforce U.S. military alliances in Asia. It’s the most cost-effective way, too.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent trip to Honolulu to attend the APEC summit is merely the latest step in what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has dubbed a “pivot” or re-focus of U.S. interest in Asia. But as the United States looks to follow through on the pledge so clearly outlined by Clinton in her Foreign Policy essay in September, attention is again inevitably turning to Asia’s looming economic and military giant – China.

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Wednesday
Nov162011

China’s Rising Navy Is Increasingly “Assertive” At Sea

DateWednesday, November 16, 2011 at 03:18PM | Print ArticlePrint Article | |

International Relations

By: Robert C. O'Brien

A number of recent articles have addressed China’s rapid maritime rise and strategy for dominating large swaths of the Pacific, including a recent commentary that I wrote for The Diplomat. The sea trials of China’s first aircraft carrier, the ex-Ukrainian Varyag, have garnered significant international press coverage. The launch of the Chinese carrier, the first of at least two such warships, is emblematic of a ship building program not seen since Kaiser Wilhelm II decided to challenge British naval power by building the High Seas Fleet at the turn of the last century.

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Friday
Sep162011

American Aircraft Carriers Remain Essential to Commanding The Seas

DateFriday, September 16, 2011 at 02:52PM | Print ArticlePrint Article | |

The Diplomat

By: Robert C. O'Brien

Last month, the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis rendezvoused in the Pacific with Carrier Strike Group-3, which is composed of the guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay and the USS Pinckney, USS Kidd, USS Dewey and USS Wayne Meyer. Carrier Strike Group-3 will soon take up station in the Arabian Sea to support American combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. En route, the carrier and its escorts have shown the flag in the Philippines and Malaysia and sailed boldly through the South China Sea, which China has basically declared its own lake in violation of international maritime law. Both missions are critical to the United States and are possible only because the Navy maintains the capability to deploy strike groups built around super carriers such as the Stennis.

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Tuesday
Aug092011

China's Two-Pronged Maritime Rise

DateTuesday, August 9, 2011 at 01:30PM | Print ArticlePrint Article | |

The Diplomat

By: Robert C. O'Brien

China is following a two-prong strategy with its impressive maritime build-up. The West is making a mistake if it underestimates the implications.

For the past decade, while the West has been consumed battling Islamic extremists in the Middle East and Central Asia, China has been engaged in a rapid and impressive effort to establish itself as the supreme maritime power in the Eastern Pacific and Indian Oceans.

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