"There's definitely serious turbulence ahead as always in times of transition"
written by: Ioannis Michaletos
Aug 18, 2010

- Interview with Iason Athanasiadis on the Middle East affairs conducted by ...more

Experts Warn of Consequences to U.S.-Russian Relations from Recent Crackdown on Opposition
Aug 12, 2010

WASHINGTON - Thirty-seven former U.S. government officials, human rights and democracy advocates, and Russia experts warned Wednesday that the arrest of Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov at a demonstration on July 31 and other anti-democratic steps by the Russian government constitute an "alarming ...more

Hybrid Arms Control Treaty Could be the Ticket
written by: Greg R. Lawson
Aug 05, 2010

Does the newly negotiated START Treaty between the United States and Russia compromise American security and/or the security of its allies? The answer is not simple for either side in the debate. It is this very ambiguity that will, and probably should, make ratification of the treaty by the US ...more

A new security structure for the Persian Gulf ?
written by: Dieter Farwick
Aug 03, 2010

- Book review written by Dieter Farwick, Global Editor WSN -

In his new book, " Building Security in the Persian ...more

Transatlantic Relations After the Lisbon Treaty
AICGS
Aug 02, 2010

In Issue Brief 37, "Transatlantic Relations After the Lisbon Treaty: Ready for Action, or More Process?" AICGS Research Program/ Publications Coordinator Jessica Riester considers the European Union's Lisbon Treaty with regard to the EU, the U.S., and Germany within the context of a more broadly ...more

Why Israel Shouldn't Attack Iranian Nuclear Installations--Unless It Has to Do So
written by: Barry Rubin
Jul 28, 2010

An Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear installations for the purpose of trying to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons at all would be a mistake. Instead, Israel should plan--and indeed is planning--for a multi-layer campaign of airstrikes, missile defenses, and other measures in the event of Iran ...more

The Afghan War Military Documents 2004-2009 by WikiLeaks.org
Jul 26, 2010

WikiLeaks today released over 75,000 secret US military reports covering the war in Afghanistan.

The Afghan War Diary an extraordinary secret compendium of over 91,000 reports covering the war in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010. The reports ...more

China and USA - a future "cold war" ?
written by: Balaji Chandramohan
Jul 26, 2010

The 9th IISS Asia Security Summit, the Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore from June 4-6 2010, clearly emphasizes that in years to come the United States and China could fight a "cold war" for the better part of the 21st century. The U.S. Quadrennial Defense Review 2010 (QDR) released ...more

Baltic MEPs: The US non-recognition policy was our only source of hope
Jul 23, 2010

At the intiative of the Estonian, Latvian and Lithanian delegations in the EPP group, 20 Baltic MEPs from five political groups signed a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, expressing their appreciation for US policies that never recognized the 1940 annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania ...more

Top Secret America - Methodology and credits
Jul 22, 2010

The Top Secret America database was put together by compiling hundreds of thousands of public records of government organizations and private-sector companies.

From these records, The Washington Post identified 45 government organizations (for example, the FBI) engaged in top-secret work ...more

US Mediation Key to Solving Macedonia Name Dispute
written by: Darko Duridanski
Jul 21, 2010

Kosovo's dispute with Serbia and Macedonia's with Greece need to be solved in tandem - and both require international mediation, says Aleksandar Matovski, former adviser to Macedonia's former prime minister, now at Cornell University.

Q: As the International Court of Justice prepares ...more

Considerations about the Chinese Intelligence Services (II)
written by: Octavian Dumitrescu
Jul 16, 2010

The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) is the second Chinese intelligence service. It is considered to be a national security organization that supervises all provincial and local police departments. Since it ...more

Interview with Nouri al-Maliki, Prime Minister of Iraq
written by: Corneliu Pivariu
Jul 13, 2010

Question (Q): How do you evaluate the meeting you had with Ph.D. Iyyad Allawi? Are there any common standpoints which would allow further consultations between your State of Law Coalition and Allawi’s Iraqi ...more

Containing Iran Requires Getting Smart, Tough, and Serious
written by: Barry Rubin
Jul 12, 2010

Note: This is an updated and revised version of my article in the July-August issue of Foreign Affairs.

It should be too obvious to have to say so but unfortunately some people don't get it: dealing with a nuclear-armed Iran is an extraordinarily important task in which the lives ...more

Replacing the Current AfPak Strategy with a New One
written by: Ehsan Ahrari
Jul 08, 2010

With the firing of General Stanley McChrystal, President Barack Obama appears to be writing his own edition of "lessons in disaster," a book of the same title that he so publicly read and supposedly drew lessons from before committing 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. One wonders whether he ...more

A new military alliance at the Black Sea?
written by: Corneliu Pivariu
Jul 07, 2010

At the end of June this year, numerous media presented information on the likelihood that a new military alliance appears at the Black Sea, by means of a military treaty between Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, under the name of Black Sea Defense Treaty. This treaty is expected ...more

National security agencies failing to protect U.S.
written by: Jim Kouri
Jun 28, 2010

Recent terrorist events such as the attempted bomb attacks in New York's Times Square and aboard an airliner on Christmas Day 2009 are reminders that national security challenges have expanded beyond the traditional threats of the Cold War Era to include unconventional threats from nonstate actors.

Today's ...more

Obama relieves McChrystal of his duties; names Petraeus as replacement
written by: By Michael D. Shear, William Branigin and Ernesto Londoño
Jun 23, 2010

President Obama removed Gen. ...more

Obama's Bluff Alienated Brazil and Turkey
written by: Judith Apter Klinghoffer
Jun 23, 2010

Obama's foreign policy failures are obvious to all. Robert Gates absurdly blames the EU for the loss of Turkey. James Rubin uses ...more

Military cyber chief: Meeting the cyberspace challenge
written by: Jim Kouri
Jun 18, 2010

Cyberspace will provide "tremendous opportunities for the future, but also tremendous vulnerabilities," the commander of U.S. Cyber Command said yesterday in a report from Donna Miles of the American Forces Press Service.

Citing the explosion in use of the Internet, email, social networking ...more

What Motivates Israeli Policy and Actions
written by: Barry Rubin
Jun 15, 2010

I use the opportunity of being interviewed to discuss current developments.

Vice-President Joe Biden has visited Cairo. Do you think his summit with President Husni Mubarak could be useful for solving the Gaza crisis? Is Egypt a strong voice inside Palestinian world?

...more

U.N. Security Council approves Iran sanctions on 12 to 2 vote
written by: Colum Lynch
Jun 09, 2010

A divided U.N. Security Council on Wednesday imposed a fourth round of financial and commercial sanctions on Iran's military establishment, bringing to a close more than six months of grueling diplomatic efforts by the Obama administration to penalize Tehran for building a covert nuclear facility and accelerating its enrichment of uranium.

All Kayani's Men
written by: Anatol Lieven
Jun 02, 2010

VOLTAIRE REMARKED of Frederick the Great's Prussia that "where .some states have an army, the Prussian Army has a state!" The same can easily be said of Pakistan. The destruction of the army would mean the destruction of the country. Yet this is something that the Pakistani Taliban and their allies ...more

Does Iran really want Nuclear Weapons?
written by: Jožef Kunic
May 28, 2010

Despite the warnings of the international community, Iran does not show any intentions to give up the uranium enrichment programme arguing that it is a civil programme not intended for the weapon development. However, the Western politicians do not believe those statements and perceive Iran's nuclear programme as a threat for the region and the Western world with global implications.

U.S. Quadrennial Defense review - a treasure trove of official U.S. military thinking
written by: Dieter Farwick
May 15, 2010

Since 1997 the U.S. Department of Defense has had to produce a Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR).Along with the National Security Strategy, the QDR is the most important document on defense-related issues and looks out to a time horizon of 20 years.

"The QDR is a legislatively-mandated ...more

Obama Administration Embraces Russia As "Helpful"; Moscow Stabs U.S. in Back
written by: Barry Rubin
May 27, 2010

If America's Middle East position collapses in the forest will anyone hear it? The answer is either: apparently no, or just barely. As I've predicted Russia is coming back into the region and it is going to play a very bad role. Moscow is linking up with the emerging Islamist alliance of Iran, Syria, Hamas, and Hizballah.

U.S. lost in Afghan vote
written by: Peter W. Galbraith
May 25, 2010

President Hamid Karzai's sham win in 2009 was bad enough; coming parliamentary voting could be worse in terms of corruption.

Will we ever learn? In 2009, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who will meet with President Obama in Washington this week, ripped off American taxpayers ...more

Nuclear Posture Review and its Implications on the Korean Peninsula
written by: Hyun-Wook KIM
May 14, 2010

Since his inauguration, President Obama has placed substantial emphasis on pushing forward non-proliferation and counter-terrorism. His overall nuclear policy consists of three components: non-proliferation, disarmament and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. This policy was first laid out in President ...more