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…
2012-11-30 by Richard Weitz During his years as Russia’s first civilian defense minister, Anatoly Serdyukov and the Russian government made the unprecedented decision to purchase expensive Western defense equipment. The decision was designed partly to fill gaps in Russian military capabilities, and partly to use the threat of foreign competition to…
2012-11-30 by Richard Weitz China’s growing energy needs represent another force driving its increased interest and involvement in Central Asia. A combination of a booming economy and declining domestic energy production has resulted in China importing an increasingly large percentage of its oil and natural gas. Although China still acquires the…
