Ilan Berman, a noted expert on Iran and Vice President for Policy at the American Foreign Policy Council, has a great piece in today’s Defense News on the Obama administration’s (mis)handling of U.S. nuclear policy. Berman reminds us that both Russia and China are modernizing their strategic forces while the U.S. weapons complex is eroding:
Indeed, practically every [...]
Jan
4
2010
4
2010
Mar
20
2009
20
2009
Mar
11
2009
11
2009
The Russian “Reset”
Brad Thayer and I were quoted recently in a piece on U.S.-Russian relations published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The EIU piece provides a solid overview of the arms control negotiations that will occur throughout this year between Washington and Moscow regarding the expiration of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) this December. It certainly looks as though missile defense will be the [...]
Sep
2
2008
2
2008
“Russia Goes Ballistic”
Bradley Thayer and I co-authored an article in the September/October issue of the The National Interest entitled, “Russia Goes Ballistic.” Here’s a brief excerpt:
OVER THE next ten to twenty years, the erosion of American nuclear superiority will have major ramifications for the global balance of power. It will place new constraints on our freedom of [...]
Aug
30
2008
30
2008
Georgia Severs Diplomatic Ties with Moscow
Yesterday, the government in Tbilisi announced that it cut diplomatic ties with Russia to protest the continued presence of Russian troops in Georgian territory. The situation in Eurasia is not improving. Russia’s decision to recognize the “independence” of South Ossetia and Abkhazia was particularly problematic since these two regions are part of Georgia.
This [...]
Aug
28
2008
28
2008
Russia Seeks Counterbalance to West from SCO
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev appealed to China and other Central Asian nations to show its support for Russia’s actions in Georgia at a Shangai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tajikistan today. International press offered conflicting analysis, which of course, is no surprise. What is striking, however, is that the break was not along traditional media [...]
Aug
25
2008
25
2008
Aug
22
2008
22
2008
Assessing the Russia – Georgia Conflict
Initial assessments of the military effectiveness of the Russian and Georgian forces are being written. Over to the blogosphere!
Robert Farley:
The Georgians did have some technical advantages, such as nightfighting gear on their tanks and attack aircraft. While this article indicates that the Georgian T-72s (with the nightfighting gear and some other technical upgrades) were superior [...]
Aug
21
2008
21
2008
Aug
20
2008
20
2008
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Here’s a great article on the late Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn by Ilan Berman of the American Foreign Policy Council.