The current situation in Afghanistan demonstrates something that may seem surprising: counterinsurgency would probably work. The problem is, the United States has been reluctant to actually attempt it. The policy brief, The Trust Deficit, published last month by Open Society Foundations, demonstrates this pretty clearly. The document, created after interviewing over 250 Afghans in focus […]
China’s military expenditure in 2010 was officially reported at 162 Billion USD, roughly 30% of the current U.S. defense budget. That budget is expected to grow a whopping 85% to 300 Billion USD by 2018. With China surging ahead to achieve parity with U.S. defense spending, other Asian nations are making significant increasing to their […]
I’m now responding somewhat belatedly to the contentious debate that occurred a couple Saturdays ago between Benjamin Wittes of Lawfare and Mary Ellen O’Connell of Notre Dame law school. In the debate, O’Connell argues that most of the Obama administration’s drone strikes in Pakistan have been unlawful while Wittes argues the opposite. Wittes posted […]
Israel’s Military Intelligence chief testified today before the Knesset, stating that proliferation of the S-300 air defense system could send the Israeli Defense Force’s capabilities “back to their status in the 1970s Suez years,” the Jerusalem Post reports. For the past few years, media and official sources have reported intensified efforts by Iran and Syria […]
The debate about whether or not the United Nations (UN) is biased against Israel is on. It began when Ben Moscovitch of the FPA Israel blog wrote that the UN is biased against Israel. I wrote a post arguing the opposite. And Ben wrote a second post, in which he focused on two things: the […]
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently concluded a 3-day state visit to Japan. The visit appears to have spurred existing talks regarding civil nuclear cooperation, and has resulted in the agreement to establish a ministerial-level economic dialogue between the two nations. While improving the bilateral relationship between India and Japan should prove mutually beneficial in […]
Iran and the West will resume nuclear talks in November somewhere in Europe. According to a letter Iranians sent to the EU, Saeed Jalili, Iran’s nuclear negotiator, desires to “resume the talks based on his letter of 6 July.” In this letter, he outlined three conditions for talks. The West should declare their stance on […]
As Tom Brokaw noted in a New York Times op-ed last week, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have taken a back seat in the mid-term elections. One might even say the wars have been relegated to the trunk, or the rack on top, or they’ve been left behind entirely. Brokaw speculates that this is […]
NATO isn’t working, warns Sarwar Kashmeri in the most recent edition of Europe’s Worldew16uk_kashmeri. Kashmeri instead advocates a U.S., Canadian and EU joint project that would “bridge” the Atlantic alliance with Europe’s fledgling defense and security framework. Kashmeri, who contributes to this blog, is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s International Security Program, and a […]
The British National Security Council is slated to meet to discuss drastic cuts to military expenditure. Purportedly on the chopping table are several key defense projects including, among others, two aircraft carriers currently under construction as well as the replacement project for the Vanguard –class ballistic missile submarine. Some in Britain’s new coalition government are […]
There has been a lot of media coverage addressing fighting in Kandahar, possible peace talks with the Taliban but very little on the stabilty operation parts of the COIN strategy. As mentioned in my last Blog, I recently participated in several Afghanistan themed Department of Defense Bloggers roundtables. Topics covered during the roundtables were training […]
Cartel-on-cartel violence may offer Felipe Calderon and Barack Obama the political solution they need in Mexico, and give international stakeholders in the Mexican drug industry the break they need to get back to ‘business as usual’–generating billions in drug dollars, cash that, as it ‘gets cleaner,’ is transformed into capital by ‘legitimate’ investors who create billions more.
You’ve found your way Foreign Policy Association’s newest blog; and welcome! Power politics can be defined as the state of international relations in which sovereign states leverage tools of national power – political, military and economic – to affect international outcomes in ways which further the national interest. Specifically, the blog will examine the application of hard power […]
I have a new piece up at Foreign Policy in Focus. It examines an often overlooked aspect of the U.S.’s current policy toward Iran. Here’s a teaser: For years, the United States and Israel have engaged in a covert effort to destabilize Iran’s government and sabotage its nuclear program. But these operations frequently escape mention […]
Been silent the last couple of weeks because of bouts with a sinus infection and bronchitis. I did get out of bed a few times to participate in some Department of Defense sponsored bloggers roundtables on Afghanistan. More about that later and kudos to the Department of Defense for providing the venue. If there is […]