Foreign Perspectives on U.S. Strategy

04/24/2012
By Richard Weitz The second panel discussion at the April 2012 Army War College annual strategy conference offered international perspectives on the U.S. role in the world. LTG (UK, Ret) P.R. Newton, Director of the Centre for Strategic Studies at Exeter University in the United Kingdom, discussed the meaning of…

North Korea’s Missile Crisis: The South’s Response

04/22/2012
By Richard Weitz From the perspective of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and its allies, the situation on the Peninsula is extremely unsettling. The DPRK looks set to resume testing its nuclear weapons as well as test launch more long-range ballistic missiles. Together, these capabilities could render the continental United…

Reducing Nuclear Weapons is Not a Limbo Dance

04/21/2012
By Lieutenant General (Retired) Michael Dunn, President, Air Force Association I have been seeing “trial balloons” in the press about the Administration's desire to go to lower numbers of nuclear warheads … beyond those listed in New START. Some of the numbers are as low as 300 warheads. (For example…

Strategic Thinking and Austerity

04/19/2012
By Richard Weitz The first panel at the U.S. Army War College conference assessed the meaning and consequences of the United States having entered “An Age of Austerity.” Lawrence Korb Lawrence Korb, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, argued that defense planners always have to accept some risk…

An Asian Pivot? Perhaps

04/18/2012
By Richard Weitz This year’s U. S. Army War College Strategy Conference, which met from April 10-12, focused on  “The Future of U.S. Grand Strategy in an Age of Austerity: Challenges and Opportunities.” The Hon. Richard Armitage, a career diplomat and the former Deputy Secretary of State for the George…

Will Russia Import and Export More Arms to NATO?

04/17/2012
By Richard Weitz For the last few years, the Russian government has made the unprecedented decision to purchase expensive Western military equipment. This has been done partly to fill gaps in Russian military capabilities and partly to use the threat of foreign competition to induce its military industrial complex to…

North Korea’s Missile Crisis: Spill Over Effects

04/17/2012
By Richard Weitz North Korea’s ballistic missile program has complicated the negotiations seeking to de-nuclearize the Korean Peninsula and achieve a comprehensive peace treaty for the Peninsula. Despite the recent failure, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is slowly improving the number, range, and capabilities of its missiles. Its…

Preventing Nuclear Terrorism – The Quest for Realistic Policy Tools?

04/15/2012
By Richard Weitz “Global Nuclear Security and Preventing Nuclear Terrorism” was the subject of an April 6 expert panel at the National Press Club. The speakers noted some progress in this area but considered the recent Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul inadequately ambitious to meet this problem. Yet, the solution…