May 27, 2012: by Richard Weitz When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established in March 2003, enhancing U.S. cybersecurity was designated as one of the new department’s primary goals. In signing the legislation creating DHS, President George W. Bush said, “The Department will gather and focus all-out efforts…
4/11/12 by Richard Weitz The Strategic Warning from Astana, Kazakhstan. The logistics trail to Afghanistan is long and costly. The role of Pakistan and Kazakhstan is crucial in providing the “highway” to support Afghan operations. But both nodes are in trouble. The problems dividing the United States from Afghanistan and…
The Making of US National Security Policy: The Leadership Imperative By Richard Wetiz Successful policy development, implementation, and outcomes are often associated with direct and sustained presidential engagement. For example, the study of U.S. policy during the East Timor crisis found that it was only after President Clinton intervened to…
The PNSR Case Studies: What Matters? By Richard Weitz Given this mixed historical record, what organizational and procedural factors underpin the (in)ability of the U.S. national security system to achieve desired outcomes? To better analyze this dynamic, PNSR cases sought to identify which conditions best explain the strengths and weaknesses…
01/10/2012 by Richard Weitz 2012 will prove challenging for the US-Pakistani relationship. And this relationship will have a core relationship to the Afghan end game and the evolution of security relationships in the region. Dealing with the blow ups at the end of 2011 will be important. The Unites States…
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="150" caption=" "][/caption] By Dr. Richard Weitz 01/08/2011 - The U.S. Government’s Conventional Arms Transfer Policy requires that major sales advance U.S. national interests, are consistent with the recipient country’s legitimate security needs, and support U.S. regional security objectives. The sales to Saudi Arabia are widely supported…
01/03/2012 By Robbin Laird Many years ago when finishing my graduate degree in Political Science at Columbia University I wrote my dissertation on how to understand the nature and dynamics of historical change. The title of the dissertation was order within chaos, and the core point was that stability was harder…
12/23/2011 by Richard Weitz Recently, Vice President Joe Biden made his seventh visit to Iraq as vice president and 16th visit overall. Biden spent two days in Baghdad meeting with Iraqi political leaders, then he travelled to Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government, to meet with President Massoud Barzani.…
