Moving Forward to Strengthen the U.S. Military Manufacturing Base

06/07/2012
06/7/12: by Bill Anderson The National Network for Manufacturing Innovation Take a drive through any industrial city across the United States.  Take a good look at the shuttered factories behind locked gates that not so long ago manufactured quality televisions, clothing, shoes, automobiles and, quite importantly, critical military equipment to…

New Dawn 2012: An Aborted Democracy

06/07/2012
6/7/12: By Richard Weitz Following a controversial public relations campaign, the United States and its allies launched Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in March 2003. The Iraqi regime collapsed in a few weeks. In addition to searching for weapons of mass destruction, the occupation authorities sought to establish a new Iraqi…

The USMC Looks to the Future

06/06/2012
by Robbin Laird The USMC is at the heart of building the agile forces central to the restructuring of U.S. forces overall. As we argued in an op ed on Defense News: Deterring Iran or China revolves around strengthened U.S. power-projection forces. Building for the future is now. We have…

Remembering LBJ on Memorial Day: A Special Moment for Boomers

06/06/2012
6/6/12: On the Second Line of Defense Forum,  we have a regular column which looks at life and language Inside the Beltway.  This Memorial Day, Boomer has reflected on the legacy of LBJ and the Inside the Beltway approach to policymaking. by Ed Timperlake On days other then Memorial Day,…

How to Understand a 21st Century Platform: The Case of M1400 and Blue Devil 2

06/03/2012
6/3/12: by Robbin Laird The ability of the United States to re-shape its forces for the post-Afghan military world will be difficult. But it is less about money, than about culture change. It is about failing to understand and generate support for the game changing technologies already entering the inventory…

New Dawn 2012: The Historical Backdrop

06/03/2012
6/3/12: By Richard Weitz From its initial emergence as a British mandate following World War I, to the post-independence monarchy from 1932-1958, through the military coups that ushered in the rule of first the Baath Party in 1968 and then Saddam Hussein in 1979, external threats and internal tensions have…

Remembering Joe Fitchett: The Passing of An Era

05/31/2012
5/31/12: by Robbin Laird I was saddened to learn of the passing of Joe Fitchett. It is not just a loss of a friend and dialogue partner on the evolution of Europe, but the true passing of an era. Joe was in many ways the representative of a passing era.…