2012-12-11 by Richard Weitz As we pointed out earlier, “defense against missile attacks [and chemical weapons] involves offensive operation as well as defense itself. Indeed, an attack and defense enterprise is required and not a pure defense system.” http://sldinfo.wpstage.net/war-in-gaza-the-40-year-anniversary-of-the-lebanese-war-in-practice/ http://sldinfo.wpstage.net/israels-iron-dome-an-initial-assessment/ In this regard, it is important to note how missile defenses,…
2012-12-10 By Richard Weitz Recently we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the signature of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The accord prohibits Russia and the United States from developing, manufacturing, or deploying ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500-5,500 kilometers. It includes an unprecedented set of intrusive…
2012-12-10 By Richard Weitz One factor driving interest in regional missile defense systems is to counter WMD-armed rockets and missiles. Chemical munitions could even be launched on artillery shells. There are three main types of missile defenses in the works in this area—the short-range systems like Israel’s Iron Dome, the…
2012-12-07 by Richard Weitz Russia and China have made considerable progress in the last few years in increasing Russian oil deliveries to the PRC. In April 2009, the two governments finalized a $25 billion loan-for-oil deal that they had accepted in principle during Putin’s visit to China in March 2006. Although…
2012-12-06 by Robbin Laird As Richard Weitz has argued in a companion piece: In the past few days President Obama, Secretary Clinton, and a number of other U.S. and foreign officials have issued highly visible public warnings to the Syrian government not to use their chemical weapons stockpiles. In a…
2012-12-04 by Richard Weitz The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) already has sufficient missile capability to inflict major damage on U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as against U.S. allies such as Japan and South Korea. The DPRK has developed several ballistic missiles types, of varying ranges…
2012-12-04 by Richard Weitz If Russian energy policy were to shift from Europe as a key market, the obvious focus would be China. But after many years of false hopes and frustrated deals, China and Russia have made only modest progress in establishing their long-anticipated energy partnership. But what are the…
2012-12-02 By Richard Weitz Russian diplomats generally oppose using sanctions to punish countries whose governments misbehave. In the case of the DPRK, as with Iran, Russian policy makers argue that a non-coercive, incentive-based strategy offers the best means for persuading Pyongyang to denuclearize. Especially in the case of North Korea, Russian…
