Republican foot-dragging on President Obama’s signature nuclear initiative places them at odds with the defense establishment.
Review: Battles to Bridges
Two characteristics of U.S. public diplomacy stand out in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks: the creativity, resourcefulness, and range of the various strategies employed, and their complete and utter failure.
WikiLeaks IX: Wires Show U.S. Embassy Actually Got It Right on Honduras
WikiLeaks’ Honduras documents exemplify the positive side of American diplomacy.
Transparency Fundamentalists
WikiLeaks puts the government through a full body scanner to reveal many dirty secrets. U.S. officials, not surprisingly, have responded with anger. They don’t want their “junk” exposed or touched. No one, from emperors to excursionists, likes to be naked in public. And the latest revelations are the most intrusive yet.
Kashmir: Obama and the Vale of Tears
There are lots of dangerous places in this world: Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Bolivia, Iran, Palestine, Yemen, and Somalia to name a few. But there is only one that could destabilize a large part of the globe and end up killing tens of millions of people. And yet for reasons of state that is the one place the Obama administration will not talk about: Kashmir.
60-Second Expert: The Cheonan Incident
Despite the publication of the Joint Investigation Group’s definitive account of the sinking of the South Korean naval corvette, Cheonan, the South Korean public remains skeptical over its conclusion. Opposition politicians, academics, and members of the scientific community have pointed to flaws in the final report, which damage its credibility and throw doubt on its findings.
Joint U.S.-South Korean Military Exercises in Yellow Sea Raise the Ante
North Korean motives for attacking Yeonpyeong Island remain unclear, but U.S. South Korean military exercises run the risk of escalating the situation.
Petraeus Played
Ambition on the part of Gen. Petraeus may have blinded him to truth that Taliban impostor was too good to be true.
Pivotal Election in Okinawa
The debate over the controversial plan to relocate a U.S. Marine air base from Futenma to Henoko is set to heat up again. Last June, then-Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama resigned after failing to keep his campaign promise to move the air base off of Okinawa and acquiescing to U.S. pressure to hold to the original 2006 force realignment agreement. His successor, Naoto Kan quickly reiterated his administration’s willingness to adhere to the agreement, and both Washington and Tokyo sought to move on from what had grown into an ugly conflict between the two allies.
Turning Stuxnet to More Constructive Ends
If responsible for the computer worm, there’s a less controversial end to which Israel can put it than Iran’s nuclear program.