War & Peace
Has Nuclear Disarmament Passed Its Sell-by Date?

Has Nuclear Disarmament Passed Its Sell-by Date?

From the Partial Test-Ban and nuclear Non-Proliferation treaties through Reykjavík in the eighties to START I in 1991, arms control was beginning to look like it might corral nuclear proliferation by other countries and on our own soil. Instead, institutional...

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Applying the Lebanese Template to Syria

Applying the Lebanese Template to Syria

Syria’s devastating civil war is unfortunately nothing new in the Levant. A similar civil war, in fact—marked by sectarianism, the involvement of foreign states, and the loss of tens of thousands of lives—ravaged Syria’s smaller neighbor Lebanon for over 15 years....

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Putin Could Steal That Nobel From Kerry

Putin Could Steal That Nobel From Kerry

On Sept. 8, Secretary of State John Kerry made the offhanded suggestion that if Syrian President Bashar al Assad were to "turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week," the United States would call off its plans to...

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An Off-the-Cuff Breakthrough on Syria

An Off-the-Cuff Breakthrough on Syria

John Kerry may have just accidentally earned himself a Nobel Peace Prize. In off-the-cuff remarks to reporters, the Secretary of State reiterated his support for a U.S. attack on Syria, saying Bashar al-Assad could only ward off a U.S. strike by turning over his...

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The Hill to the Rescue on Syria?

The Hill to the Rescue on Syria?

Sometimes history happens at the moment when no one is looking. On weekends in late August, the president of the United States ought to be playing golf or loafing at Camp David, not making headlines. Yet Barack Obama chose Labor Day weekend to unveil arguably the most...

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Syria: Suddenly a Race to Peace?

Syria: Suddenly a Race to Peace?

Suddenly it seems as if the United States is competing with Russia to find an alternative to attacking Syria. As we posted this morning: “The Syrian government has accepted a Russian proposal to put its chemical weapons under international control to avoid a possible...

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Prompt Global Strike Too Prompt for Its Own Good?

Prompt Global Strike Too Prompt for Its Own Good?

Conventional Prompt Global Strike (CPGS), still under development, is a weapons system designed to provide the military with the option to strike fast, even on the other side of the world. It affords the speed of nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles, but...

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Assad and Obama Whiff at Chances to Defuse Crisis

Assad and Obama Whiff at Chances to Defuse Crisis

The hypothesis that the Syrian chemical weapons attacks may not have been perpetrated by President Bashar al-Assad – or the opposition – has been graining traction. Reuters reports (Sept. 8): Syrian brigade and division commanders had been asking the Presidential...

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Syria: Helps to Know Whodunit Before Sentencing

Syria: Helps to Know Whodunit Before Sentencing

With Syria, the United States has been judge, jury, and hopes to be the executioner. The trouble is that its idea of who the accused is remains ill-defined. The United States seeks to hold the Assad regime responsible, but, if it has any idea who ordered the attack –...

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