Guest Post: Dominik P. Jankowski The last year has revealed to the Europeans three important truths about the American defense posture. First, spending on the military in the United States has reached such heights—almost $700 billion—that it has become too large for deficit-cutters to ignore. Therefore, reductions in defense expenditures are inevitable. The only remaining […]
In the coming days, everybody seriously concerned about Iran’s nuclear weapons program will be watching with bated breath the IAEA’s Iran landing page for the agency’s impending report on the Tehran’s efforts to design and build an atomic bomb. President Obama evidently has been briefed on the report and already has in effect commented on […]
The heinous crime that exploits, abuses, rapes and enslaves millions upon millions of children is hardly a new story. As a society we have become more open and aware of the issues of modern slavery and human trafficking, but we envision the facts as distant, far removed realities. Sadly modern slavery impacts some 27 million men, […]
If you have followed this blog for a while you may have noticed a few posts on the subject of U.S. foreign aid (most recently: here , here , and here). I’ve mentioned it several times and so I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that the U.S. is celebrating the 50th anniversary […]
Guest Post by John Paluszek It’s now apparent that Tunis and the many newly-“Occupied” cities are virtual neighbors – not geographically, of course, but in the newly-aroused global Vox Populi Community. These “neighbors”, although in vastly different societies, have common fundamental demands: “justice”, “fairness” and “voice”. In this historic year of 2011 something seminal seems […]
See Greg Thielmann’s excellent analysis at: http://armscontrolnow.org/2011/10/24/iranian-ballistic-missile-developments-non-barking-dog-and-dead-monkey/#more-2485
Monday, October 24th was World Polio Day, and while the day gained global attention by much of the press, it was just any other day for most of us. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), polio has declined from an estimated 350,000 cases in 1988 to 1,349 reported cases in 2010. Today the only […]
Three House Committees and one Senate Committee are spotlighting ATF’s Fast and Furious. Representative Lamar Smith (R-Texas) sent a letter to President Obama more than a month ago asking him to appoint a Special Counsel to investigate Eric Holder for perjury. What no one seems to understand is that any US Attorney with jurisdiction in a district where a ‘gun walker’ crime transpired has the statutory authority to empanel a grand jury and open an investigation into more than just perjury…think violation of the Export Control Act. You don’t need a ‘designer prosecutor’ to investigate high profile officials. No one in Washington is going to go out of the way to tell you about this. Read all about it here..
It’s been more than two weeks since Kenya sent its troops into Somalia. Initially, the incursion seemed like a short term retaliatory campaign in response to a series of kidnappings in northern Kenya. But, this past weekend, Kenya’s top commander said that troops will remain as long as necessary to vanquish the threat posed by […]
The fight against child malnutrition and poverty is an ongoing battle. It remains clear that efforts around the globe to tackle the food crisis and seek a sustainable end to child malnutrition and poverty need to see an increase in political will. This is necessary to ensure that both funding and sustainable practices are put […]
It looks like, despite all the denying on the part of the Syrian government, its stonewalling of the IAEA inspectors, and, of course, the tap dance by Pakistani nuke weapons program grandfather Dr. Khan himself, the IAEA has come up with new allegations that a previously unknown complex in Al-Hasakah, near the Iraqi border, “appears […]
UNESCO recently admitted Palestine as a full time member of the UN family. This decision has had considerable consequences: division among the EU powerhouses, U.S. suspension of its financial support to UNESCO, and the end of the Euro-Atlantic community unity as we know it. The 194 members of the UN Education, Science, and Cultural Organization […]
Vladimir Putin, the once and future Russian president, made waves recently in an article he published in Izvestia about the desirability of a “Eurasian Union”, which would deepen and build upon the existing customs union involving Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan and potentially expanding to include Tajikistan and Kyrgyz Republic. He writes: This project also implies […]
I went to hear a most interesting talk the other night, centered on how we need to get much smarter, quick, about agriculture and what we eat. Jonathan Foley, the Director of the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota, gave the broad outlines of our dilemma relative to climate change and […]
Africa struggles with secondary education Governments in Africa are struggling to meet demands for secondary education, with girls facing more challenges to securing access than boys, according to a report from UNESCO. Many countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, are unable to successfully provide education services to more than one-third of children. Ukraine – President: Ensuring […]