Yesterday marked the 11-year anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, which was launched just three and a half weeks after the 9/11 attacks. Recently, U.S. troop deaths in Afghanistan reached the 2,000 mark. These markers—combined with the horror of “insider attacks” by Afghan soldiers against allied fighters—beg an accounting …
Last week, General Sergei Karakayev, Commander of the Strategic Rocket Forces, announced plans for a new heavy intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to go into production as soon as 2018. He emphasized that the new missile would be capable of penetrating the NATO missile shield Russia dislikes so much. The new …
The bad news: This week the Dutch parliament voted to scrap Dutch participation in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. The good news: Since the Dutch government dissolved back in April, and there will be a general election later in the year, the vote is non-binding. Nevertheless, this should …
Last weekend, hostilities between Turkey and Syria escalated after a Syrian anti-aircraft gun struck down a Turkish F-4 Phantom jet that was allegedly flying in international airspace. It has also been reported that Syria also fired on a Turkish search-and-rescue plane, but it is unclear if any damage was inflicted. …
As the Obama Administration continues to pursue what can at best be described as a tepid commitment to missile defense, it nonetheless continues to draw condemnation from Russian and Chinese officials who describe U.S. and NATO plans to enhance missile defense capabilities throughout Europe as “destabilizing.” All the while, Russia …
Yesterday Nikolai Korchunov, Russia’s acting representative to NATO, had an article in The New York Times about NATO’s Ballistic Missile Defense entitled: “You Say Defense, We See Threat.” Unfortunately, Korchunov did not elaborate on how NATO’s Ballistic Missile Defense system is an actual threat to Russia. NATO leaders have said …
Georgians live in a dangerous neighborhood. This is obvious to anyone looking at a map of the Caucasus. Iran is its neighbor to the south. Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in a frozen conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh province in Azerbaijan. Even though Georgia has good relations with both countries, …
The recent NATO summit in Chicago failed to produce a U.S.–Pakistan transit agreement. The agreement sought would have allowed U.S. forces and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to transport supplies via Pakistan safely and cost effectively, and it would have guaranteed that in 2013–2014, Pakistan would be the safe …
During the NATO meeting in Chicago, the alliance will declare that it has an interim operational capability to defend itself against ballistic missile attacks. This is a major step forward for NATO and U.S. leadership within the alliance. The declaration marks the achievement of the first phase in the Obama …
When NATO leaders meet this weekend in Chicago, they are expected to announce an Interim Missile Defense Capability in Europe. This announcement might read well in the summit’s declaration, but a lot more will need to be done before the members of the alliance will be protected from the ever-increasing …
