The impressive run-off electoral victory of Juan Manuel Santos demonstrates that Colombians place great confidence in the former finance and defense minister’s ability to guide their nation for the next four years. It was also a vote for continuity with the successful and popular policies of outgoing President Alvaro Uribe. Undoubtedly, Santos has large executive shoes to fill. Colombia under Santos, who takes office on August 7, will need to strengthen democratic institutions, advance an impartial justice system, put the economy on a high growth track, and battle poverty, while …
A front-page story on Afghan-Pakistani relations in today’s Washington Post indicates that Afghanistan and Pakistan are discussing a peace settlement for Afghanistan. While a genuine thaw in relations between the two countries would be welcome, the idea that the U.S. would take a back seat in any effort to negotiate an end to the war in Afghanistan defies logic. The U.S. has not lost over 1,000 U.S. soldiers in battle and invested billions of U.S. dollars in Afghanistan only to allow Pakistan to re-install its violent proxies there. President Karzai …
The administration is launching a full-scale defense of the new START Treaty, as evidenced by two days of testimony in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and an op-ed out this morning in The Wall Street Journal by Michele Flournoy and Ashton Carter. Ms. Flournoy and Mr. Carter rightly point out the successes of the missile defense program over the past few years. Over 10 tests conducted since 2006, the Standard Missile (SM)-3 interceptor has had a 90% success rate. Missile defense is effective and a key component in our national …
In the midst of a downturn, it’s easy to lose perspective. It feels at the moment like America’s position in the world is slipping and Asia is taking our place. Permanently. On a longer view, that turns out to be only half-right: Asia is rising but America is not falling. With sound policies, the U.S. will be by far the world’s most important economy for a long time. One of those sound policies is strengthening our ties with Asia. To get a better sense of the current situation, go back …
