CTBT Holdouts: The Asian Triangle

10/13/2012
2012-10-13 by Richard Weitz There are three key Asian states who have not jointed the CTBT regime. Each of these states in turn, China, India and Pakistan, are discussed in this article. And the prospects are not promising that they will join any time soon. China Until the end of the…

Transitioning in Afghanistan: The Role of Airpower and Special Forces

10/12/2012
2012-10-12 by Robbin Laird Airpower is crucial to every aspect of operations in the Afghan Area of Operations, and crucial to hot pursuit of the Taliban who do not respect lines on a geographical map. Interviews we have conducted with American and French military operators in Afghanistan have hit hard…

The Afghan Transition: The View From Tashkent

10/12/2012
2012-10-12 By Richard Weitz Last month, I had the opportunity to spend a week in Uzbekistan meeting with government officials, think tank researchers, university faculty and students, and other members of the country’s national security community. Much of our discussion focused on Afghanistan, which I would like to summarize for the…

Russia and the CTBT: And the Future of Russian Nuclear Weapons

10/11/2012
2012-10-11 by Richard Weitz The Russian speakers at the 2012 Moscow Nonproliferation Conference strongly backed universal ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), and chastised the U.S. Senate for failing to ratify it. But Russia’s position regarding the CTBT is more complex than commonly presumed. The Russian Federation signed the…

Time for US Move in South Caucasus

10/11/2012
2012-10-11 by Richard Weitz Although Americans and Azeris have a long history of friendship, this year marks the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and the post-Soviet state of Azerbaijan. The U.S. government and U.S. companies were eager to develop newly independent Azerbaijan’s oil and gas fields through…

Alaska, the Arctic and Crafting Strategic Depth

10/10/2012
2012-10-10 by Robbin Laird A key element for the U.S. contribution to Pacific defense is the ability to provide strategic depth for our allies.  Projecting power forward is a key contribution to enhancing the ability of allies to defend themselves, and to shape an interoperable Pacific defense strategy.  Along with Canada,…

The Afghan Transition Challenge: Where is the US Pakistan Strategy?

10/10/2012
2012-10-10 by Richard Weitz After almost a decade of fighting, American politicians are eager to reduce their military, financial, and other costly support for the Kabul government. Relations between the Barack Obama administration and Afghan President Hamid Karzai remain strained, as confirmed most recently in the testy remarks by U.S. Defense…