Scholars, advocates, and activists seeking to make the U.S. a more responsible global partner.
Terrorism
The Curious Case of Omar Khadr

The Curious Case of Omar Khadr

by | Aug 9, 2010

As a child, I sometimes browsed magazines in my doctor’s waiting room. One day while flipping through the pages I came across a photograph of a beaming young woman enjoying a picturesque view of a meadow. Underneath the photo in a small box was a message in black and white — issued, I thought, by a general who performed surgery in his spare time: “SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Smoking by Pregnant Women May Result in Fetal Injury, Premature Birth, and Low Birth Weight.”

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Dismembering Afghanistan

by | Aug 5, 2010

Wars are rarely lost in a single encounter; Defeat is almost always more complex than that. The United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies have lost the war in Afghanistan, but not just because they failed in the battle for Marjah or decided that discretion was the better part of valor in Kandahar. They lost the war because they should never have invaded in the first place; because they never had a goal that was achievable; because their blood and capital are finite.

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Secrecy Industry Hits Home

by , | Jul 29, 2010

Marylanders in Odenton, Annapolis, Frederick and our hometown of Columbia had their suspicions answered last week when The Washington Post published a three-part series about our unchecked, out-of-control expansion of the defense and intelligence operations that have grown since 2001. The expansion of this influential sector has been evident to us, as it has to Americans all around the country living near other defense and intelligence contractors and federal intelligence agencies.

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Al-Shabaab’s Wakeup Call

Al-Shabaab’s Wakeup Call

by | Jul 26, 2010

The international terrorist attack on Kampala, Uganda, by Somalia’s al-Shabaab militants is clearly a wakeup call for the U.S. and its allies in the Eastern Africa region. The militants claimed responsibility for bombs planted in two Kampala venues showing the World Cup final on July 11. The attack killed over 76 people.

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Sri Lanka’s Wartime Abuses

by | Jun 25, 2010

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa was in India earlier this month making promises to resettle the war-displaced Sri Lankan Tamil minority one year after his government’s forces won a crippling victory over the Tamil Tiger insurgency. But can he deliver on his pledge and begin the healing of Sri Lanka’s deep ethinc wounds?

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The Surge of Ideas

The Surge of Ideas

by | Jun 24, 2010

In recent years, there has been a growing tendency for think tanks and military brass to jointly pursue policy objectives, some of which are opposed by the public or the White House—take, for example, the campaigns to build support for the troop “surges” in both Iraq and Afghanistan. This trend, say critics, raises important questions about the appropriate role of the military in promoting particular policies and whether there is enough transparency and accountability in the work of policy groups. And, just as importantly, will there be a new joint campaign aimed at pressuring the Obama administration to delay troop withdrawal from Afghanistan?

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