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…
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…
2012-10-11 By Richard Weitz The EU arms embargo is now seen by China as well as the EU more as a symbolic act of protest than as a tool for actually changing Beijing’s behavior. Technically, EU members are not legally forbidden from selling military items to China. However, the 1989…
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…
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,…
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…
2012-10-09 In a new book, Second Line of Defense provides a broad overview on the evolution of air mobility. Air power is increasingly about integration of air assets into the full spectrum of military and security operations. The book is a compilation of interviews that have been published on the Second Line…
2012-10-09 by Richard Weitz We are now entering the twelfth year of U.S. involvement in the Afghanistan War, with the United States suffering its 2,000th military death earlier this month. On October 7, 2001, the U.S. military first invaded Afghanistan to topple the Taliban. This year at least 257 Americans have…
