Thursday linkage

• John Mueller: '...it seems to me that the United States lives in an environment that is substantially free from threats that require a great deal of military preparedness.'
• Population and urbanisation trends in Asia.
• From 1865, a poignant and powerful letter written by a freed slave to his former 'master' in Tennessee.
• China upstages Europe at the African Union summit.
• Cheaper than kerosene: solar makes big strides in the developing world. (H/t RCW.)
• It's difficult to reconcile Obama's State of the Union remarks on Iran's nuclear program with US missile defence policy.
• The European Council on Foreign Relations has a nice website illustrating findings from its latest EU foreign policy scorecard.
• CFR's Joshua Kurlantzick has a new brief out about the drivers behind Burma's reforms.
• Richard Bitzinger on the historical demons animating Singapore's defence strategy:

The last thing the Singaporeans want is to fight last-ditch battles on Singaporean soil...A lot of this goes back to the fall of Singapore in 1942. That history is very poignant to them - the idea that once the Japanese crossed the straits of Johore, it was all over. They never want to have this happen again. They will take the war to the enemy.