News sources are reporting that North Korea is confronting a major outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease. This virulent disease can be dealt with only by destroying infected stock and quarantining farms that are suffering the outbreak. Given the condition of North Korea’s food stocks, which have remained low, this additional disaster …
On December 15, the Missile Defense Agency conducted an unsuccessful test of Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD), a long-range ballistic missile defense system designed to protect the U.S. homeland against a missile threat from North Korea or Iran. The initial review suggests that the failure occurred because an undetermined problem with …
New START, a strategic offensive arms reductions treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation, would limit the U.S. ability to defend against an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack. According to experts James Carafano and Richard Weitz, “A nuclear device detonated high in the atmosphere above the American mainland can …
Although Iran and North Korea have received far more attention, Syria is belatedly becoming a prime focus of international concern over nuclear proliferation. On December 1, the Institute for Science and International Security released satellite photos of suspected Syrian nuclear sites linked to the covert Al-Kibar nuclear reactor that Israeli …
Naively thinking that Pyongyang and Tehran could be sweet-talked out of their nuclear programs was one of President Obama’s earliest foreign policy blunders. Despite initial giddy expectations that the Obama Administration would achieve a breakthrough in the six-party talks, Pyongyang quickly sent clear signals that it would not adopt a …
The economic case for the South Korea–U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) has been variously described as a “slam dunk,” a “pareto-optimal solution,” and “an easy ‘yes.’” However, aside from the economic arguments for KORUS, recent events in the Korean peninsula make approval of the agreement more important than ever. On …
The illegal revelation of more than 250,000 State Department documents last weekend by the WikiLeaks organization is a damaging setback for U.S. foreign policy that will strain relations with important U.S. allies, undermine U.S. national security interests, and complicate international cooperation on many issues, including the war on terrorism. This …
10. An Unreliable Nuclear Arsenal Is No Deterrent. New START offers no assurance that the U.S. nuclear force will be an effective deterrent in the future. President Obama has already declared he won’t replace and modernize the nuclear arsenal. Yes, he said he would spend billions on the supporting infrastructure …
At 2:43 PM local time today, North Korea fired artillery rockets at the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong setting dozens of residential homes ablaze, wounding three civilians and fifteen soldiers, and killing two South Korean Marines. South Korea responded with artillery fire of their own but while they placed fighter …
