The Top 10 National Security Stories of the Year

From Obama and the generals to women in combat, here are the big issues that mattered in 2012.

BY KEVIN BARON | DECEMBER 26, 2012

9.    China and the pivot
While the United States races to build stronger alliances with China's neighbors, the Pentagon and the People's Liberation Army have reached new levels of cooperation thanks to Obama's active open hand policy with Beijing. U.S. senior military leaders want Beijing to be a partner in global security. Naïve? Mabye. Worth the try? Definitely. It's early, it's tense, but so far, it's getting better, not worse.

All photos AFP/Getty Images

 

Kevin Baron is a national security reporter at Foreign Policy and the author of FP's E-Ring blog.