Guide to Russian Presidential Candidates

03/03/2012
As a guide to the Russian elections to be held this weekend, Richard Weitz provides a background on the candidates and their positions. Vladimir Putin Vladimir Putin is the current Prime Minister of Russia, the chairman of United Russia, and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union…

Parsing Putin’s Foreign Policy Treatise

03/02/2012
by Richard Weitz Vladimir Putin, currently Russia’s prime minister and a candidate for the Russian presidency, set out his core foreign policy views in his latest pre-election newspaper article. Unlike most election manifestos, the content of this one seems to reflect Putin’s genuine views and the actual policies he will implement if elected.…

SuperTucano Vs AT-6: The “Smoking Hole”

03/01/2012
by Ed Timperlake "While we pursue perfection, we sometimes fall short, and when we do we will take corrective action," said Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, in a statement Tuesday (Feb 28, 2012). The USAF just withdrew their selection of the SuperTucano for the Afghan Army Air Force LAS. Numerous…

A Letter from Congressman West: Where is the Support for Our Afghan Ally?

03/01/2012
Congressman Allen West has written a letter to Secretary of the USAF Donley. He has requested a sense of what the USAF is going to do to deal EXPEDITIOUSLY with a glaring need.  The Afghans need the kind of fighting equipment that helps them and helps us make the transition…

Iran Approaches Israel’s “Zone of Immunity”

03/01/2012
by Richard Weitz The February 24 report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran’s nuclear program described many instances of Iranian obfuscation regarding its suspicious nuclear activities as well as noticeable increases in the quantity of enriched uranium that Iran is producing and stockpiling. As a result, the…

Laying a Disaster for The Department of Defense: One Snow Shovelling at a Time

02/29/2012
Are We Confusing Budget Cuts with Savings? by Bill Anderson Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting one of our larger U.S. military installations.  As I spoke to the men and women charged with the tough line responsibility of maintaining readiness in this challenging budget environment, I immediately noticed two…

Kazakhstan-China Security Ties

02/26/2012
By Dr. Richard Weitz 02/26/12 - China and Kazakhstan have generally achieved a harmonious relationship in which the two countries can engage in mutually beneficial economic, energy, diplomatic, and security partnerships that produce a “win-win” outcome for both parties. For centuries, Kazakhstan’s leaders perceived China as their main security threat,…

Enabling the Tip of the Spear: Re-Focusing the USAF

02/26/2012
by Michael W Wynne, 21st Secretary of the USAF All of the services were and are confronted by the new realities of the future defense budget in a very straightforward manner. Not only through the first budget agreement wherein the outgoing Defense Secretary volunteered to yield some $450 Billion; but…